Kendall Katwalk

October 8, 2026

Washington Trails Association page for this hike. All Trails page for this hike.

This was a long hike, 8 1/2 hours with lots of picture taking on the way up. It took us around 5 hours to go to the two lakes beyond the katwalk and around 3 hours to get back. We took a lunch break at the katwalk and had a nice chat with some fellow hikers.

The hike is rated hard on the WTA page. I think that is primarily because of its length. There are no super steep climbs, however, the hike is consistently uphill, just at a reasonable rate of climb so it isn’t too difficult other than of course being a really long day hike. The hike was not crowded though we did see some folks from time to time. A few times we saw folks running it; that would certainly be a good workout for a healthy person that could manage it.

The map at the trailhead shows the route from where you start to the Katwalk, and then to the two lakes; Gravel Lake and Ridge Lake.

A bulk of the trail is in the woods.

We got temporarily interested in the various mushrooms we would see along the trail. We don’t know anything about the different species, such as what would be edible vs. not. We were just interested in how they look.

The trail transitioned temporarily to a rock field with some views around us.

Bunces of these small white flowers were seen many places along the way.

We stopped to wash our hands in a small stream that crosses the trail.

There are many fallen trees among the standing.

The trail appears to be at the top of a ridge and then travels along it; still going up.

Going through another large rock field.

We get a distant but nice view of Mount Rainier.

From this viewpoint we take some more pictures of Mount Rainier.

I find that if I step back and use the zoom on the subject, the mountain in the background becomes a larger part of the picture.

You can see the I5 freeway down below. Also you can see the ski area.

Selfie time since the mountainous background looks nice.

Here the trail goes by rocks with a rust or copper like color similar to the small mountain we see.

We are up high in an open area with great views.

More rust colored rocks that look like art pieces.

We reach a lookout spot with nice views again.

I try a couple panorama shots with my iPhone Pano feature.

We are close to the Katwalk and press on.

This sign marks the spot.

The Katwalk gives you views of both sides.

The Katwalk is not narrow, there is plenty of room to walk. We of course stay away from the steep edges.

Here is Ying walking along the Katwalk.

We stopped for lunch here.

After lunch we decide to check out the Gravel and Ridge lakes as they are only 1 1/4 miles away. This of course adds 2 1/2 miles to our hike but we think we are up for it and we calculate that there is plenty of daylight left.

The fall colors on the way to the lakes are similar to what we have seen on our other recent hikes.

The view along the way seems to make the trip to the lakes worthwhile.

Ying found some of those wierd orange spotted mushrooms.

The split large rock in this view is very different.

In not much time, we are at the lakes.

To the left is Gravel lake. It is the larger of the two. We don’t go all the way down to it because we want to start getting back before too long. It actually looks the most promising of the two lakes as it is larger.

On the right side, we make it down to the smaller Ridge Lake and get some nice photos of the trees around it reflecting in the water. The water is very still and quiet. We aren’t tempted to walk in the water because the rocks look murky.

Time to start the trek back. Generally we like to suspend the picture taking for most of the trip back, but we capture some things because we can’t resist.

Back at the Katwalk.

Ying is midway along the Katwalk.