Lake Ida
Backraft Score: 9/10
The perfect lake doesn’t exi– oh wait, it’s in our backyard! Lake Ida is nestled in a saddle way up Icicle Ridge near Granite peak, giving the motivated backrafter incredible views of Mt. Cashmere across the way. There’s no official trail to get there, but there’s a fisherman’s trail that’s easier to find than it is to hike.
My favorite part of this lake was looking down at the massive talus underneath the western bank — there were some boulders down there the size of my house! The only thing preventing Lake Ida from being a 10/10 backraft is that its position in the saddle makes it catch a ton of wind and stay white-capped for a lot of the day. Also the mosquitos were hell, but I suppose that’s par for the course.
Such a special place we get to live in!