We started out relatively late, and arrived at the trailhead at 1130. We had dogs, and kept them on leash during the beginning mile to keep them away from other hikers, but other than a trail runner, we didnt meet any other hikers until halfway up the mountain, and there was only 1 person. The trail starts out fairly flat but climbs swiftly after the first mile, and switchbacks (what seemed like to me forever). After probably 2 1/2 miles of steep switchbacks, it flattens out a little and you have watch your step on loose rocks and cross a couple creeks. Some of the creeks you cross still have snow pack, and ou have to cross over it to get to the trail. We were very careful. The few miles we decided to go straight up a couple snow fields. We had ice picks, and definitely got good use out of them. So we did not stick to the trail, but there was no real discernible trail in the snow. We spotted Del Campo and aimed for that. One of the more experienced hikers with us had done this hike 2 other times previously when the snow had been melted. This season its just not melting fast enough. We reached the basin/lake at about 300 I believe, and we glacaded down, after eating and getting pics of the still snow-covered lake. We made good time coming down the mountain and arrived back at the trailhead around 520.

Dogs were exhausted.

The rain started pouring so we got real lucky.

None of us used gaiters. But ice pick is necessary.

I will definitely be hiking this again as soon as the snow melts, so that I have more of an opportunity to hike around the lake and possibly scramble Del Campo (it looks awesome.

Enjoyed this real workout day hike in cool weather. I'll not go over the basics of this really great hike to Foggy Lake as others have done that. I thought I would add some information from my GPS. See the Hike Profile to get a feel for the steepness of the hike. It took 3.5 hours up to Foggy Lake and 3 hrs down. Don't let the distance lull you into thinking it is fast or easy. This is a real good workout with a very rewarding break at the top.

The lower part of the hike is in good condition, but the upper section before the basin is in bad shape.

An improvement in the weather drew me to the mountains, where I was not disappointed. The trails to the Lake and the Basin are demanding, but worth every step. The clouds teased at times, but moved away for outstanding views. There was only one family camping in the Basin with me, and the solitude was wonderful. The wildflowers are still awesome. The waterfall flows have decreased, but remain beautiful. I saw a Ptarmagin with three chicks, a Pika, and some frogs at the river crossing. The bugs were tolerable. Hiking out today I passed a parade of hikers on their way to the Basin. Good weather always bring us out!

This hike really beat me up although I'm not sure if it was due to two weeks of inactivity, my general clumsiness, the trail conditions, or the fact that I ventured up to Foggy Pass via a very imprudent route. In any case, the trail features some giant, slippery, steep rocks that took me out 3-4 times on the way down, skinned my palms, scraped up my legs, and left me generally bruised and exhausted. Use caution and bring hiking poles! Those with limited range of motion and arthritis in their knees may find scrambling over the steep boulder portions on the upper trail very challenging.

The hike is only moderately strenuous until just before Gothic Basin, where ascending the upper trail becomes very hard work indeed. It takes just a little more effort to climb up to Foggy Lake via a somewhat indistinct trail that is marked with infrequent and inconspicuous little cairns. This is definitely worth doing though. If you want to continue on to Foggy Pass, don't do what I did, which was follow four hikers along the east (right-hand) shore of Foggy Lake. That way was absolutely treacherous, with sliding talus and shifting boulders, preceded by a lot of bush-whacking just to get to the talus field. My poor canine companion, Daphne, had to be carried over some of the larger boulders that were too far apart or too slanted for her to cross herself. The west shore (left side) is infinitely easier, though it still requires sure footing on spongy, moss-covered slabs, some of which are quite wet and slippery. There is no trail to the pass, so just stay mid-level along the west shore of the lake until you reach the snow fields. Poles are helpful on the snow field and a lonely cairn marks your arrival at the Pass. From here, one supposedly gets an impressive view of Morning Star Peak although today, Foggy Pass was, well...foggy.

Trail Notes: The walk (or bike) on the gated dirt road to Monte Cristo is blessedly short. There's a hiker's bypass just shy of the bridge, due to a past clay-slide that took out the road. A hiker's trail has been pounded through the clay-slide directly ahead, but I didn't chance it, heading up the bypass instead; it's short. Just past the Gothic Basin trail register, take the right-hand trail (do not follow the signs to Monte Cristo or the river crossing). Start an easy ascent through the forest, skirting around a mudslide you'll encounter about 40 minutes in (I'm basing these times on a moderately-slow pace). Shortly thereafter, you'll cross a creek and see a waterfall on your right. After this point, the trail starts to steeply climb, getting very steep about 75 minutes from the trailhead. Lots of blowdowns, one of which you'll have to crawl under. About 1 hr, 50 min into the hike (approx. 3738 ft elev.), the trail turns decidedly rootier and rockier. Sometimes you'll have to hoist yourself 2-3 ft up and over the tangled roots and large rocks that define the upper portion of the trail.

Sadly, the berries are all gone now. If you take your dog, make sure she/he is agile and sure-footed. There is plenty of water all along the trail, including several creeklets and a large cascade at 4045 ft. I didn't need to take any extra water along for Daphne, as there are several small pools for splashing in and once your reach the Basin, lots of little tarns.

To head up to Foggy Lake, stay on the main trail, angling northwest and passing between Gothic Peak on your left and Del Campo Peak on your right. En route, you'll pass two large tarns; neither of these is Foggy Lake. The lake, once you reach it, is surprisingly large and deep; there are some nice-sized trout swimming in its clear blue waters. At the north end of the lake, you'll see two large snow patches; the pass is just above.

DISTANCE TO/FROM GOTHIC BASIN: 9.4 miles
ADD'L DISTANCE TO FOGGY PASS: ? 0.7 miles
TIME IN TO GOTHIC BASIN: 3 hr
ADD'L TIME UP TO FOGGY PASS: 1 hr, 15 min (the hard way, following the east shore--not recommended)
TIME OUT FROM FOGGY LAKE: 3 hr
TOTAL ELEVATION: 2639 ft to the Basin (elev. 2361-5000 ft); add 250 feet to reach Foggy Lake (elev. 5250 ft) and another 250 ft to Foggy Pass (elev. 5500 ft)