Escaped from the smoke to the mountains. Remarkably clear skies in the Snoqualmie backcountry compared to the dense smoke in the lowlands.  Had not done this hike for 15 years, so was curious what it would look and feel like.  Fall colors were plentiful. Started at the trailhead at 10:00 am with two companions and made our way up to the lake--actually more of a workout than I remembered, but of course I was also older! I did remember the very rooty sections. Saw about a dozen people on trail, more than I had ever seen before there. My last two times to this lake I had continued to Rampart Lakes and Lila Lakes, but this trip was just Rachel. Temps were in the 70s at the lake, and I took a quick dip in the water.  After lunch we headed back down, and the smoke was present as soon as we got back to the highway around 3:00 pm.  

Well, since I need to wait until next year to watch the Mariners in the World Series, I decided to get another little overnight trip in before the rains come in for the next 9 months.  In an attempt to escape most of the wildfire smoke, I decided to hike up to Rampart Lakes (or what I like to call a Poor Man’s Enchantments - ok, I may still be bitter for not getting a permit this year, AGAIN).  Stayed for three days, October 18-20, 2022, to include a day trip to Alta Mountain and Lila Lake.

Road Condition

The gravel road is washboardy pretty much all of the way from the T-intersection with Kachess Campground with the worst of it during the first half mile.  Note that I had no issues with my compact front wheel drive car with the road.  But you oldies, watch your dentures, you youngans Google “washboard” if you don’t know what a washboard is (of course the over/under age for oldie & youngan in this case is like 100).

Note that about 0.4 miles after starting on the gravel road, stay right at the fork to stay on Road 4930 to the Rachel Lake trailhead, Trail #1313.  The road sign is gone (missing signs will seem to be a common theme in this report).  There were 5 cars in the lot when I arrived at about 11am.

Trail Condition/Description

The trail starts out a bit aggressive to get your blood moving.  This settles down soon after crossing the Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary to a much more slow accent rate with a few undulations thrown in.

There are about 5 blowdowns, most with easy established walk-arounds, with one tree about a mile in that you need to straddle over.  At about 2.5 miles in, there is a large blowdown that splintered over about 50 feet of the trail.  It seems like taking the left (south) walk-around trail is the easiest and has the least impact on vegetation.

Soon after this splintered blowdown you start the steep rough portion of the trail.  This starts at approximately the 3,500 ft. level and basically continues all the way up to Rachel Lake at 4,700 ft.  The rough parts consist of rocks and roots, many many roots.  Note that descending this steep section isn’t as bad as you may think since you can use the roots or nearby trees as veggie belays to get down the more gnarly spots.

After reaching Rachel Lake, look for a trail with the sign for the Toilet then look about 15 feet left (west) of that to another trail with a bare post that used to have a sign stating “Trail.”  This is the main trail that goes up to the ridge.  Take this trail ignoring the side trails unless you want to lounge around Rachel Lake for a while.  You know you are on the main trail since it keeps going up.  Take this trail up around the north part of Rachel lake and start the climb up to the ridge.  There are several spots on the way up that you can take a break that have overlooks of Rachel Lake and the Box Canyon below and Hibox Mountain above.

Once reaching the ridge, there actually is a sign pointing left to Rampart Lakes and right to Lila Lake.  Take a Louie here following the easy ridge walk to Rampart Lakes.  There are plenty of campsites around and in between the lakes.  The sign for the toilet that used to be near the lakes is gone, but the toilet is on the bluff northwest of the largest lake.  There are a couple intermediate toilet signs on the trail up to the privy pointing the way.

Bug / Animal / Fall Foliage Report

- No biting/stinging/gnawing bugs at all.

- Bigger animal wise, I only saw one chipmunk and a few birds.

- It is getting near the end of the fall colors.  However there are a few plants still showing some color, even the Devil’s Club is showing some pretty yellow hues.  Some of the Blue/Huckleberries shrubs still have some crimson color but many are starting to brown.  I actually saw one plant with a few shriveling berries still on it.

Interesting Bits

- I was planning on going on a little swim, even bringing some goggles.  But when I initially stuck my feet in, they instantly went numb.  I couldn’t believe how cold the water was.  I don’t know how accurate my altimeter watch is in measuring the water temperature, but I put my watch in the lake about 3 inches below the surface and the temperature stabilized at 54 degrees.  Ok, I believe it.

- The wind was dead calm on the first day and evening.  The lakes were glass smooth (first picture).  In fact, during the first evening, I could not believe how quiet it was.  There was absolutely no sound from insects, rustling of leaves, etc.  The only occasional sound was when a jet flew over or a fish gulping a late-night snack.  It was eeriely quiet.

Alta Mountain and Lila Lake Excursion

On Day 2, Oct 19th, I hiked up Alta Mountain and visited Lila Lake on my return.  When I first hiked up Alta several years ago, I had stayed at Lila Lake and you cannot see the summit let alone that there are four false summits from Lila Lake.  Also, the map just shows that it is a ridge up to the summit.  So, when I first hiked it, I was like, hey, I’m at the summit, no I’m not.  Now I am, nope, not yet.  So, this time I was more mentally prepared.  In addition, you can see the false summits from the Rampart Lakes (there are 3 big false summits and a little one as seen in the picture).  I’m saying all of this, just so you can prepare for a longer than expected ridge walk.

To get up Alta, from Rampart Lakes, you take the trail back to where you reached the ridge from Rachel Lake and continue north on the Lila Lake trail.  At about a ¼ mile, you come to a “T”, which, again, used to have a sign.  Go left to Alta Mtn or right for Lila Lake.  The Alta Mtn trail starts out pretty steep, a la Bandera Mtn. or Mt. Defiance if you are familiar with those trails.  Then it settles into just a steep dirt trail.  The trail is pretty exposed to the sun all the way to the summit with just a few shady spots from trees, so be prepared for that during summer months.  The trail then levels off for a while.  For your information, at the north end of this level area at about the 5,500 foot level, there is a climber’s trail dropping off to the right (east) down to the Lila Lake trail.  So, if you are camped down at Lila Lake, you take this shortcut up to the Alta Mtn. trail.  I took this trail down to Lila Lake on my return.

You pass the aforementioned four false summits.  Note that there are a few Class 3 scramble moves when you go around or over these false summits.  Nothing difficult and there are plenty of hand and foot holds.  Just watch your footing for loose gravel and dirt.  See picture of the ridge and the true summit from the 3rd false summit.

You know that you are on the true summit when you see a 3 foot high pyramid of rocks… oh, and you can’t get any higher.  When I arrived at the summit, I was treated to a couple of EA-18G Growlers zipping up the Gold Creek Valley to the west and at least 1,000 feet below me (I assume they were EA-18Gs out of Whidbey, but I’m no jetologist).  They pulled up and barrel rolled over the ridge near Chikamin Peak.  When I had camped at Lila Lake, I saw them do this maneuver over the gap between Hibox Mtn and Peak 6,242 several times.

I hung out on the summit for an hour having lunch and watching the smoke fill the valleys northwest of me.  The air was still fairly clear of smoke where I was, but Mt. Rainier was starting to fade in the haze.  Otherwise, the 360 degree view was still great and would be even better on a smoke-free day.

I took that trail back down the ridge and caught the climber’s trail down to Lila Lake (see picture of Lila Lake from the Alta Mtn ridge).  Hung out for a half hour then took the Lila Lake trail back up to the ridge and my camp at Rampart Lakes.

A north wind started picking up late in the afternoon and then the smoke started to arrive and remained smokey all night.

Hike Out on Day 3

It stayed a little windy all night, but it remained relatively warm in the low 50s, the previous evening was in the low 40s.  The smoke remained and you could see some real clouds starting to move in, so I decided to depart fairly early at about 10am.  No issues on the descent, but right as I reached the trailhead, it started to sprinkle.  Talk about timing.  There were only 2 other cars in the lot at about 1pm.

All in all, it was a nice end to the backpacking season.

Have fun out there,

OMG

Hiked this trail on a Saturday morning. The lot was nearly full at 1030 but there weren’t a ton of people on the trail. The trail is in good condition except for a couple of downed trees. The lake was perfect! The smoke was minimal and better at the top than at the trailhead.

This was our first time to hike this trail and I must say it's going to be one of my favorite hikes to a lake. I liked the character of the trail, the frequent encounters with the Box Canyon Creek, the views of the Hibox Mountain, and the beautiful lake with comfortable entry points. A beautiful sunny day though a bit of smoke was still around, but much better than at home. Good exercise, too.

The road was awesome, bit dusty but no serious potholes so anyone can make it. It was relatively easy to park even though we came at around 11am on Sunday. Met lots of backpackers going back on the way up, and when we returned to the parking lot after 5pm, there were much fewer cars.

GPS shows that it was about 7.61 miles roundtrip and 1850 feet ascent altogether. The watch shows 8.73 miles total and 2,034 feet ascent. Most ascent was concentrated in the last mile on the way to the lake, which really warmed us all up. Our dog had tougher time crossing a few of the tree trunks (maybe 2 were on a tougher side even for a pretty big Golden Retriever) and I was sometimes concerned also about the roots and rocks, but he managed to get through without much help. The good news was that the trail was very close to the creek so there was plenty water on the way along the trail for the dog. He was super tired after the hike, lot of jumping up or down.

There are a few splits that lead to fake trails, so I kept looking at the GPS quite a bit. Also, while the trail was super dry and dusty today, I can imagine that after a rain it can be muddy.

The lake was beautiful, it was pretty easy to get down to the water, and the dog enjoyed a nice swim. I dipped a few times and so did a few others but I think none of us stayed in the water for more than a minute at a time, it was already pretty cold. The entry was super easy though so I dipped 3 or 4 times. I was surprised to see so many people get into water, but it made me happy to not do it alone this time.

Our dog found the way back a bit more challenging than up, but it was doable. A beautiful day and a great hike, will do this one again and maybe go see some other lakes around there (Rampart Lakes, Lila Lakes).

It took us about 4:30 hours total (moving), with about 2:40 up. I guess we were not too fast but we were not in a rush. Some ripe blueberries on the way but mostly picked so we just had a few. An awesome hike. I count it as one of my favorite Alpine Lakes hikes, along with Melakwa Lake, Snow Lake, and Mason Lake (via Ira Springs Trail).

Arrived at the trailhead around 8am on Saturday. The upper lot was full, but there was plenty of parking in the lower lot. The restroom was open and had just a little TP left. We hiked up to Rachel Lake, went up to the viewpoint to Lila Lake, then took the boot path up to the ridge to head over to Alta Mountain. Beautiful fall foliage and great views, although a little hazy from the smoke. Refilled water at Rachel on the way down, and the trail was definitely getting busier by that time. On the way down, we heard a large crash and later found a tree had fallen across the trail. We were able to make our way around, but this fresh fall could make it hard to follow the trail. We were back to the trailhead by 4pm.