Coined "The Little Enchantments", the nickname is strikingly accurate. Unfortunately, due to the striking beauty and relative similarity to the Enchantments, Robin Lakes can get down-right crowded on a sunny weekend in September, as I found out this past weekend.

After hiking into Hyas Lake after dark on Friday evening, I got an early start Saturday morning and, after a quick stop at Tuck Lake, by noon had reached Robin Lakes. While there certainly were still a few mosquitoes, they were few and far between, and I only received one bite the whole weekend. Setting up camp between upper and lower Robin Lakes, I watched as the masses streamed in the rest of the day, many with dogs (how are dogs allowed on this hike?!).

Amazingly, even with all the canines, a family of mountain goats made an appearance, and I was careful to keep at least 50 feet from them at any time. An afternoon scramble to the ridge line along Granite Mountain allowed me to top out at 7100 feet and take in the incredible view of the lakes from above and the mountains beyond.

For those looking for larches turning yellow, this isn't the hike for you, but in a certain rare occurrence due to the crazy weather this year, there were both wildflowers blooming AND fall colors coming in.

At the risk of inviting even more people to this treasure of a hike, I simply can't recommend this location more. If you can handle 3,500 feet of elevation, 8 miles of hiking and some relatively tricky rock scrambles, this is easily the most accessible and beautiful hike I've ever been on.

It's just a matter of time until this area is permitted. In my opinion, it couldn't happen soon enough. Until then, enjoy the beauty and relative tranquility, but expect a healthy dose of humanity as well.

We stayed Friday night at Hyas Lake and were surprised that there weren’t too many bugs! Yeah!

The hike up to Tuck is straight up and many big steps for my 5’2” frame. But it is doable. The lake was beautiful and there were so much snow on Daniel. There were bugs at the lake for our lunch stop. The hike up to Robins is tough! There are many “alternate” routs and is steep with even bigger steps! But the results were amazing. The Robin lakes were spectacular. There’s only one small path of snow that you have to cross on the way up. Not a big deal.

There were many folks camping up at the lakes. Unfortunately there were folks who had dogs who would bark incessantly early in the morning and wouldn’t be quieted. There was another group that had a dog that spooked a mother goat and baby and I’ve never seen goats run that fast. The dog was not on a leash.

We hiked up to Granite Mt. There was snow to cross, but other than that…the hike was fine. Loads of friendly goats!

What a lovely weekend.

Robin Lakes rival the Enchantment Lakes for scenic beauty and popularity. I joined many friends that I didn’t know I had for a great 3 day outing. I set up camp north of the lakes, and only saw 5 people walk by in the distance. I wanted to avoid the 6 noisy teenagers who brought guitars and other musical instruments so I camped near a large pine tree in a wide open flat 10 minute walk from the lakes. There is plenty of room for those who want solitude even if there are 20 or more people in the area like there was Friday – Sunday. Most people evidently like to get close at the several camp spots between the Robin Lakes. I was almost far enough away from the crowds that I couldn’t hear the dogs barking at the goats. There must have been at least 15 more people heading for Robin Lakes Sunday, including a group of 8-9 men who were having difficulty on the steep part of the Deception Pass Trail, not that there are any steep sections before the Robin Lake Trail junction. I would need to put 25 pounds of rocks in my pack to equal the weight they were carrying. In stark contrast there were 7 college age men and one woman with no packs each carrying half empty water bottles heading for Tuck Lake. They had a long ways to go with no food and other essential gear. There were about 10 people at Tuck Lake Sunday morning when I was headed back to the very full parking lot.
For those who don’t know, the Deception Pass Trail up the Robin Lakes junction is relatively easy hiking. There are a few easy creek crossing, a few roots, rock, and mud holes, but nothing difficult. The climb to Tuck and Robin Lakes is steep and rocky. The trail from Tuck to Robin is well marked with cairns.
The weather this weekend was fantastic; blue sky, intermittent but welcome breezes, and warm. The gentle winds were welcome because the mosquitoes were having a field day with all of the fresh bodies in the area. The light wind sometimes provided relief, but even with DEET I am sitting here scratching the mosquito bites as I write this report. Needless to say the mosquito population is doing well. The cutthroat trout population is the Robin Lakes is also healthy and there are plenty of goats in the area.
The goats are habituated to humans, as they have been for several years, but I didn’t notice any aggressive animals. One ewe was chasing other goats when they got too close to her kid, but she walked right up to me with her kid and posed for photos while I was sitting on one of the large flat granite rocks that dominate the landscape. I enjoyed watching 7 goats Friday afternoon. The 2nd time I ran into them they were busy dusting themselves. I spotted them from a distance because of the dust clouds. I should have got some video of them rolling around in and kicking dust into the air.
Saturday I hiked to the top of Trico Mountain and down to Trico Lake. The trip to Trico Lake was not worth the effort. I should have hiked to the top of Granite Mountain, but I did the several years ago. The mosquitoes were much worse at Trico Lake than at the Robin Lakes. As far as I know I was the only person who completed the short walk and gentle climb to Trico Mountain. There is a sketchy unmapped trail that is marked with cairns. The views are superb. Mt Baker and Glacier Peak are visible to the north, and Mts Adams and Rainier are visible to the south and southwest. The closer peaks that are visible include Mt Daniel, Cathedral Rock, Granite Peak and more too numerous to name. Many lakes including Klonaqua, Phoebe (Upper and Lower), Jungfrau and the 3 Granite Mtn Potholes are visible at some point along the route to the top of Trico Mtn and on the ridge to the north. Years ago I enjoyed a loop trip starting at Paddy Go Easy Pass Trail to the above mentioned Lakes and out via Robin Lakes, Tuck Lake and the Deception Pass Trail.
I have no doubt that the young lady who’s dad gave her a four hour limit from their camp at Tuck Lake made it the top of Granite Mountain and back in time. Her dad told me that she climbed Mt Baker and Mt. Shuksan last week.
Everyone and their dogs were on the trail Sunday as I left the area. The dogs were well behaved. The 2 the dogs at Robin Lakes that chased and barked at the goats were the exception. Those 2 men should stay home or not take their dogs. I was surprised that there were not more tents at Hyas Lake. Most of the group there were day hikers. I saw a little kid on a bicycle at Hyas. I enjoyed talking with a young couple from Kirkland who hiked down from Robin Lakes at a record setting pace a few hundred feet behind me all the way down the Deception Pass Trail. They commented that they thought they would catch me. I think they were surprised that an old guy could hike at that fast pace for the entire 4.4 miles. They did pass me when I stopped for water between Hyas Lake and the trailhead but we hit the parking lot about the same time. There were 50-60 or so cars in the area, but we were parked next to each other. I learned that we have both had hamburgers at Miner’s in Yakima. We agreed that if we hike hard we can occasionally eat some unhealthy food.

Road: The road has lots of potholes but my little Nissan Sentra did just fine. The water level at Scatter Creek was about ankle deep, no problems.

We got a late start at 3pm and were racing daylight to make it to Robin Lakes before sunset. The first 4.4 miles is a wide trail (# 1376), and is mostly flat for the first 3 or so miles. Shortly after the well signed cutoff to the lakes the trail gets down to business and heads up. The way to Tuck is easy to follow and offers some good views of Cathedral Rock, Daniel and Hyas lake. The Green Trails map shows the trail continuing to the right of Tuck before heading up to Robin, so that is what we did. We stayed to the right and took the first avalanche gully up. The route was cairned and at the top of the gully was boot-beaten path with flagging. That didn't last for long before we were on rock and had to rely solely on cairns. This got us there but on the way down we took a different route that except for up top, relied much more on boot-beaten trail and dropped us more towards the center of Tuck. This route seemed more direct, easier to follow and probably less strenuous.

We arrived at the ridge above Robin at 7:10 and were making camp at 7:30. Mosquitos and lots of them served as our welcoming party. There was also a family of mountain goats that were not at all shy (none were aggressive) that passed through our campsite and within 20 ft of us several times. The weather was gorgeous, it never got particularly cold during the night and it stayed clear for star gazing. The mosquitos retired about 30min after sunset and began feasting on me again as I watched it get light in the morning.

There are several established camp sites at Tuck Lake, but the trip to Robin is well worth it. We found an established site there as well. Robin Lake is snow free, with only a few scattered patches of snow along the banks. We only saw one other camper at Robin while we were there and saw a couple parties headed up as we were leaving. In contrast to our ascent the day before, we took it easy on the decent, snapped pictures, ate snacks and took a break to swim in Tuck lake at 9:30 (quite refreshing!).

A gorgeous trip, my plans for next time include a side trip from Robin to scramble up the 1000ft or so to the summit of Granite Mt.