Anthony Lakes (SS-2)

April 29, 2023, Anthony Lakes, SS-2

Leader:            Chuck Wierman, 509-572-8618 or oldhikerguy51@gmail.com
Drive:              About 300 miles round trip
Depart:            7:00 a.m. from the Southridge Sports Complex, Highway 395 and Hildebrand Ave., in south Kennewick. Go west one block on Hildebrand to the first stop light and turn right into the parking lot. We will park just west of that stop light.
Cost:                $45 for transportation
Sign-up:           By Thursday, April 20, 9:00 PM, limit of 12

The trip is a long drive, but well worth the time and effort. If you have never been to the Anthony Lake’s area, the scenery is hard to beat, and early spring is a great time to enjoy it. The skiers and snowmobiles are gone, and there is still plenty of good snow. We will walk up creek beds and around frozen alpine lakes, all in the shadow of 8,500’ granite peaks. We start going around Anthony Lake, and do a loop to and around Black Lake getting back to Anthony Lake via a different route. Then, depending on conditions (ours and the weather’s), we do a loop up to and around Hoffer Lakes and back, to finish going around Anthony Lake. The trip rating is SS-2, but a bit deceptive. The route is about 5 miles and 600′ of climb. However, the elevation starts at 7,200’. The air is quite thin for us lowlanders, so not getting winded is critical. Also, the trek is mostly cross country, which adds a degree of difficulty.  Spring weather is hard to predict, so please bring adequate protection from sun, wind, cold, rain and snow. As, always, bring the 10 Essentials, a lunch and plenty of fluids.