Gold Creek Pond Winter Hike

Today we went on an adventure to Gold Creek Pond.  This was a short and easy walk with a spectacular view of the mountains and water.

From I-90, we took Hyak exit 54 and went over to the Hyak Sledding Hill.  Here we purchased a Sno-Park Pass (we already have a Discover Pass) and I thought we'd spend the afternoon sledding.  Normally Jake loves sledding, but after a couple of minutes he said he was done.  The snow isn't very deep and the past couple of sunny days means that there was a layer of ice on top, so it may have been a little too bumpy, even on the short hill.

Since adventures don't always go according to plan, it's good to have backup ideas in mind.  Since we had the Sno-Park Pass on hand, I decided to cross under the freeway and check out Gold Creek Pond. 

After driving under I-90, we saw the large Gold Creek Sno Park sign.  Rather than go into the park here, I turned right and drove down about a mile or so to Huckleberry Peak Road, the entrance to Gold Creek Pond.  The forest service road looked pretty icy so I decided to parallel park down on the main road amongst lots of other cards.  It's only a .3 mile walk up to the parking lot so that seemed like a better route than risking icy driving conditions.

Walking on the ice to get up to the lot wasn't super comfortable, but it was manageable in our snow boots.  The trek ended up being totally worth it!

In the parking lot, we saw porta-potty type of restroom facilities, which is always great to have on hand when hiking with kids.

In the lot, Jake noticed the multitudes of ice crystals sparkling in the sun.  He loved the sparkles and checked them out for a couple of minutes.  Someone might notice that this is a kid with his right mitten upside-down and his boots on the wrong feet, but I see a big kid who got their winter gear on all by themselves.  I would have fixed the boots if I had noticed.  Oops.

Beyond the parking lot, we saw a trail so we headed down.  Pretty quickly we saw a "Y" in the trail.  I had no idea which way would lead to a quicker or better view of the pond.  However, the right path was in the shade and the left path was in the sun so we went to the left. 

Within minutes, we encountered a little log bridge that crossed a sparkling stream.

Beyond the bridge we came to a surprisingly flat field.  There aren't a lot of flat fields in Western Washington, especially around hiking trails.  However, this flat, sparkling field went right up to Gold Creek Pond with some gorgeous mountains in the background.  For being only 5 minutes from the parking lot (and about 20 minutes from the main road below) Gold Creek Pond has a lot of bang for little work.

We mainly hung out in the field, checking out the sights.  Several folks had left behind real snowmen, which Jake loved. 

BEFORE YOU GO:
1. Go to the Washington Trails Association's site https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/gold-creek-pond and check out the latest field reports to get an idea about conditions.
2. Since it's on National Forest Land with restroom facilities, a Forest Service Pass is required.  The Discover Pass doesn't count.  You can get a $5 daily e-pass here: http://www.discovernw.org/store_national-forest-recreation-epass-national-forests-in-washington-and-oregon-only_20281.html
3. If you're comfortable driving on icy roads, you don't need an additional permit.  However, if you avoid icy roads (like me), don't want to try driving up Huckleberry Peak Road, and want to park down on the main road, you'll also need a Sno-Park Permit, which you can purchase here: https://fortress.wa.gov/parks/ecomm/prod/store/sno/SnoChoice.aspx.

GETTING THERE:
1. From I-90, take Hyak exit 54.  From Seattle, take a left at the end of the off-ramp.  From Ellensburg, take a right.  http://binged.it/1vFnbNn
2. At the "Gold Creek Sno Park" sign, turn right and drive down the road.
3. In about a mile, you'll see a sign for "Gold Creek Pond" on Huckleberry Peak Road.  The parking lot for Gold Creek Pond is up the road .3 miles.  Either drive up to the parking lot or find a spot along the side of the main road to park.
4. From the parking lot, find the trail in the NW corner of the lot. 
5. At the "Y" in the road take a left.