Gold Creek Pond
At over 3,000 feet, Snoqualmie Pass is objectively one of the most scenic drives you could ever take in your life. Nestled at the summit of this Cascadian Pass is a small alpine pond. In the summertime it is the hosting site of hundreds of family picnics and marriage proposals. Couple’s come here to mark anniversaries, pregnancy announcements, new pets, or just to simply enjoy the day together.
Gold Creek Pond is ADA Accessible in the summer, being that there is a paved walking path that goes all the way around the pond, with mountain views in all directions. You are invited to take in the sunshine and warm summer breeze while you gaze upon the wildflowers and listen to the birds sing.
In the winter, it’s a different story. The Forest Service road that goes to the Gold Creek Pond Trailhead parking lot is entirely closed to vehicular traffic in the winter months, as it isn’t plowed. Adventurers like myself are invited to park along its intersecting forest road, abandon their car, and begin the trek through the 4+ feet of snow in the most magical winter wonderland imaginable. We’re now on what is called the Gold Creek Snowshoe Basin Trail.
Just a few hundred feet along the road, ice crunching beneath my feet, and the blistering alpine wind pushing through the treetops and somehow missing the ground below entirely, I thought to myself that this is what Santa’s Village at the North Pole must be like. It all felt so magical. The trees towered above my head, gently releasing little snow drifts down that would catch the sun perfectly and steal my attention so that I could stop and watch the diamonds falling out of the sky.
Every few feet (not exaggerating), I was literally stopped in my tracks by a view that kept getting better and better. A quiet stream whispered memories of its previous life as ice until it was kissed by the sun and given a new purpose. The water flowed unapologetically through the snow banks and around little twists as it finds its way to the valley below, and invited me to do the same.
I was eventually greeted with my destination - Gold Creek Pond. Breathtaking. I stopped and made myself a cup of (horribly bitter) camping coffee and allowed myself the time and space to glue this feeling into all of my senses. The view of the snow-covered mountains, the frozen pond, the smell of hot coffee against glacial wind, my nose burning and turning red, the sun on my face… all of it. Perfection.
