Surprise Creek
My last trip to Deception Creek was so nice that I decided to head one drainage over to the east and check out Surprise Creek. Located at the upper end of the Tye River Valley, it’s located in the vicinity of where the railroad punches through the Cascades through a tunnel. The trailhead starts underneath the BPA transmission lines but quickly dives into beautiful forest and finally enters the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
The trail is about 5 miles in length and eventually reaches the highlands and some upper lakes near the Pacific Crest Trail. It does steadily gain elevation as you head up valley but does so at a somewhat leisurely pace. After about 2/3rds of a mile, you finally gain sight of Surprise Creek. After a mile, the trail switches sides of the creek and continues upstream. During my trip, I only continues another half mile or so upvalley due to time constraints. The warm, sunny day made for difficult photography but its definately worthy of future trips and additional exploration…
