Just one other car in the lot at 6:30am Wednesday morning, and only a handful of people here all day. The trail through the brush has been cleared nicely. I have never seen so many tiger lillies! Chatted with a another hiker most of the way up, and we ended up climbing up the ridge from Rampart Lakes, over the saddle, and down to a lake a couple hundred feet down the other side; which was a beautiful, heather covered area. Still some snow before the saddle on the Rampart side. Made it back to the car at 4:15, about 13 miles altogether, with 3,000 feet of elevation gained. Mosquitos were fairly thick at times, but frequent breezes helped keep them away. Great place to be on a day off!

The road to Rachel Lake is having construction done 1 mile before the trail head and therefore the road is closed at that point. The sign indicated the work would be done July 10-14.

An awesome weekend in the Pacific Northwest. Curly Fries and I started the hike around 10:30 am and the parking lot was almost full with cars. Most of the people looked like going for a multiday hikes. The first two miles were uneventful through the meadows and gentle hills. Although today was the day when I was at my best in going off the trail. We veered off the trail 2-3 times before curly fries got be back on track. Waterfalls were beautful on the way up. counted one blow-down on the track which can be easily ducked under. A number of stream crossings required skipping over rocks which Curly Fries danced across. The steep climb upto the lake was streneous but the lake itself is pretty. Saw a lot of people on the lake side already pitching the tents at noon. This is one of the prettiest lake in the alpine lake region. Lots of wild flowers on the trail including avalance lillies. We decided to go upto Alta mountain and on the way got nice pictures of Rachel lake too. Unfortunately we veered of the path (thanks to me) and we went off in the snow over to some other peak rather than Alta mountain. (After climbing up the ridge over Rachel Lake, there's a fork in the trail and we took the right fork instead of the left one to Alta mountain). But a scenic view none the less. We had our sandwiches on the mountain and then headed back to the lake. By this time, more people had shown up and one of the Forest rangers was cleaning up a campfire near the lake (grrrrr to those people who don't follow regulations). Curly Fries decided to take a dip in the lake while I was content in getting my tired feet soak in the icy cold water. Got some pictures of the waterfall coming back and Curly Fries helped two pretty hikers take their pictures under the waterfall. Uneventful journey back down the trail. Were back to the car at around 3 pm.

There's hardly any snow on the way up to Rachel Lake, and just a few larger patches remain around the lake and at the top of Rampart Ridge. The route to the top of Alta Mountain is mostly snow-free, except for a few steepish patches (that unfortunately encourage meadow-stomping to circumvent). We didn't use or need our ice axes. Great long hike with lots of variety, a little bit of adrenaline-pumping scrambling, and fantastic views.