Boardman Lake

GNATS! The hike to this lake is a quick and easy one. You reach your destination of Boardman Lake in just under a mile. This was my first time there which is surprising considering it's one of the more popular ones on Mountain Loop Highway. GNATS! But I decided to finally make my way up there for a couple reasons: I knew it was an easy hike (and that seemed like a good plan because I was just coming back from an ankle injury) and I wanted to camp overnight because I knew the weather was supposed to be great and Boardman lake has established campsites.

The trail up to the lake is almost all dirt and considering this is Western Washington it was mostly soggy /muddy due to the wetness of the region. GNATS! (For a brief time I was hiking behind a family and a girl about 10 or 11 years old was complaining that her feet were wet/muddy because she was wearing sandals. Her mom said "I told you to wear shoes." And the young girl replied "but those didn't go with my outfit, and you never know who is going to see me up here!" I thought the whole thing was funny and it made me laugh.)

Unfortunately the trail was in pretty bad shape. There was quite a bit of blow-downs all over the place. They were easy enough to maneuver around but it just made the trail seem sub-par. GNATS! I'm sure it has to to with the recent budget cuts. And at one point where there is a switchback in the trail there is a mudslide right into the trail and it masks the turn, consequently I missed the turn and went a few yards before I realized the trail had disappeared and had to backtrack to find the right trail again.

Once I reached Boardman Lake I had to cross a single narrow log over the outlet of the lake to get to the campsites. I made it across just fine but the family I previously mentioned didn't even attempt to traverse the lone log. I searched for a suitable campsite where I could hang my hammock between two trees. I found one and set up camp. GNATS! I slept great on the hammock, for those of you who have never tried it, you should, sure beats sleeping on the ground! There are 4 campsites at Boardman Lake and all of them were full: one looked like it was a boy scout troop and two had families with young kids and then I occupied the last one.

In the morning I got up, took down my gear and headed out early...I planned on hanging around a bit more and enjoying the day but there was one major problem with this lake. Perhaps you've already noticed it. GNATS! The bugs were absolutely unbearable. Every single second they were swarming unrelentingly. I was afraid to open my mouth for fear of consuming several gnats at one time. I was totally unprepared for the bugs. I didn't bring any bug spray or any kind of repellent. The only solace I found was in my hammock with my bug net. So I made my quick exit and left the others to deal with the bugs.

Distance: .9 mile
Elevation gain: 300 ft.
Peak Elevation: 3100 ft.
Difficulty: very easy

Pass requirement: Northwest forest pass.
Vegetation: Lots, everywhere, including but not limited to conifers, deciduous, and evergreen trees, ferns, moss, mushrooms, skunk cabbage, and sticker bushes.
Water source: Evan Lake .1 mile into the hike, Boardman Lake .9 miles.
Wildlife: Gnats, lots of them, everywhere. Snakes, birds, woodpecker, fish, posting of "Beware of Bears" at the trail head.