Gorgeous area, especially with the fall colors starting to emerge, and a great trail for a weekend backpacking trip.

We arrived to the trailhead around 9:30am, and the parking lot was pretty full, but still spots available. It was a gravel road to get there, but one in pretty decent condition.

We hit the trail at 9:45am and were on a pretty steady pace for the first 2.5 - 3 miles. The first part of the mileage is a super easy, flat, well-maintained trail, along the river.

However, after that 2.5 - 3 mile mark, you begin a brutal ascent where you knock out the majority of the elevation (~1400ft of the 2200ft). This steep ascent up to Rachel Lake was about 1.25 miles. It consisted of a network of trails (all going to the same place, but still confusing), with big roots, big rocks, and overall a pretty tough terrain.

We arrived at Rachel Lake at 11:45am and took a nice 20 min break. We were greeted by a pack of chipmunks who were very interested in our food.

At noon, we got back on the trail and made the next ascent up to the ridgeline above the lake. It was about 0.5 miles, and captured the rest of the elevation. It was pretty similar to the trail going up to Rachel Lake, but the trail was more difficult to follow. We actually were on the wrong one for a majority of the time.

After that relatively short ascent, we arrived the a fork in the trail with a sign, for Rampart Lakes (0.5 miles) or Lila Lake (0.75 miles).

We chose to check out Rampart Lakes, arriving to the lakes around 12:45. We hung out in the area for the rest of the day, seeing all the lakes, and taking in the gorgeous scenery of the area. We would have loved to swim, but it was a tad bit too cold.

There were plenty of camping spots, but we decided to head over to Lila Lake to stay there instead.

We got over there around 5:30pm. Most campsite at the lake were already taken, but we were still able to find a nice spot near the lake.

It was incredibly cold and rained at night, and we didn’t pack nearly enough gear, but we still really enjoyed camping there.

We woke up for the sunrise, and then packed up and headed back down. We left around 8am and got back to the car around 10am. It’s pretty quick going down, but the steep incline is tough on the knees.

Critter count:

• Lots of chipmunks, squirrels and pikas

BEE ALLERGIES BEWARE

We hiked up to rachel lake and spent the night there and then did a day trip to Rampart today. As another person mentioned, there is a wasp nest near the top (approximatley at mile 3.5, its on the right side on the ground in an old tree stump/root, so bear left to avoid it) which had quite a lot of wasps flying around as we passed it yesterday, and we head several people had been stung, some multiple times. Today, on our hike back down, we did not actually see the nest but did notice some areas that were pretty buzzy with wasps. I also noticed a huge number of yellow jackets, hornets, and bald faced hornets throughout our hike up to rachel lake and some up to rampart lakes. Bald faced hornets were all over the toilet by Rachel lake, that is their toilet now. godspeed to anyone who tries to use it. But seriously, if you have bee allergies, please stay away from this hike (rachel lake, Lila lake, and Alta mountain too) because I personally have never seen so many wasps during a hike as I did on this trip.

Aside from bees, fantastic hike! The end bit is quite steep and was a pretty challenging push for me, but definitely worth it. When we arrived in the mid afternoon yesterday (saturday) the campsites near the trail and right on the water were taken, but many of the campsites further away and set back from the lake were available, we snagged a cool spot all the way at the end of the lake. Definitely seemed like Rachel Lake was less busy than ramparts and Lila, so may be a good option for camping if those areas seem full. Also makes a great place to camp and then do day hike from Rache Lake.

The "bugs were an annoyance" is in regards to the wasps. I don't think I saw a single mosquito and I got no bites.

A few lingering wildflowers were present in some of the wet spots and streams, and up at the lake there were the first signs of fall foliage with some shrubs on the steep mountain slopes starting to turn, mostly yellow and red, and a handful of larches had a few small branches that were starting to turn yellow! Not in full swing just yet, but getting there. If you want some fall color, you can head up to Rampart lakes from Rachel Lake, there's definitely some fall colors going on up there, and it's a challenging but short hike from Rachel.

Highly recommend if you're up for a moderately challenging backpack or a long day hike!

We backpacked up to the Rampart Lakes for an overnight stay. There was plenty of room at the trailhead parking lot about 9:15 on Thursday morning. The first couple miles of the trail are in good shape and easy hiking. Once the trail starts the climb to Rachel Lake though, it becomes rough and moderately steep with lots of big rocks, roots, and large step-ups. The trail is a bit hard to follow in several places because of side trails that bypass some parts of the main trail. Many other hikers we talked to said they had problems with this too. Fortunately, the bypasses work their way back to the actual trail. There’s not much in the way of views until you get a good way up the climb to Rachel Lake and then you get good views of Hibox Mountain to the north.

 After a snack break at Rachel Lake, we continued up. The trail up to Rampart Ridge is steep but has fewer big rocks and roots to clamber over than the climb up to Rachel Lake and it goes pretty quickly. Once you get to the Rampart Lakes/Lila Lake junction (signed), it’s about a mile of fairly level hiking to get to the lakes. There were lots of blueberries along the way. It took us about four and a half hours to get to the lakes carrying overnight gear. There are quite a few nice camp sites to be found nestled in various places among the lakes.

After setting up camp, we followed the trail back to the Rampart Lakes/Lila Lake junction and followed the trail about a third of a mile to the unsigned junction of the trail to Lila Lake and the one that goes up Alta Mountain. We went up. The views from Alta were fantastic and definitely worth the climb. Highly recommended.

 We spent the next morning exploring the lakes. This is worth spending time on because you keep finding gorgeous new lakes and ponds around bends and tucked away behind little hills. Wildfire smoke had rolled in during the night so we cut our stay short and headed back out early.

 There were no mosquitos or other biting bugs to deal with at all.

 There is one well hidden privy on the very top of the hill on the east side of two of the bigger lakes. It’s not signed. There are two misleading “Toilet” signs over a hundred yards away from it part way up the north side of the hill that I guess are left over from a previous location but will leave you with no way to locate the one that’s there now. The Gaia app shows the toilet is located near the two signs, but it’s not. Instead, find a four-way trail intersection near the top of the south side of the hill with a post about 3 feet tall and follow the trail that goes to the top of the hill to its end. That’s where you’ll find it.

The road to Rachel Lake trailhead is in great shape. On the paved road in, there is some roadwork which uses a traffic light to control a single lane for a very short distance. After the paved road, the dirt road does have some washboard but is not a problem driving at moderate to low speeds (25 mph).

I did not have any abnormal problems on the trail. There are a couple trees across the trail and a couple small streams but can easily be managed to get past. Once starting the climb in the last mile going to Rachel Lake, pay attention to the route as there have been several paths in some sections created to get around slides and/or difficult parts.

After Rachel Lake the climb to the ridge line is pretty steep with some lose rock. A few switchbacks provide great views of Rachel Lake.

I started picking some huckleberries at Rachel and picked more along the ridgeline. If going to Alta Mountain, beware there is no turn sign; however, it is not hard to find as there is a sharp left turn off of the Lila Lake trail. Note: the Alta trail follows the ridgeline while the Lila trail traverses on the side of the mountain. Alta trail is pretty steep at first but gets better. The views heading to Alta Mountain only get better while going up. I only went .6 miles out of the 1.0 mile to the top due to time constraints. I could see Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Rampart Ridge. Rampart Lakes, Rachel Lakes, Lila Lakes, Snoqualmie ski area, Kendall Katwalk, Red Mountain, Snoqualmie Mountain, Hibox and many more, but I could not find Mt Stuart.

After turning around, I headed to Lila Lakes. I was surprised that the trail drops a steep 100 to 150 feet to the lake basin. I wondered how backpackers manage the big step-downs, but they do. I found two main lakes at Lila, but I could also see a couple smaller lakes further along the trail when I was on Alta ridgeline. There was only one campsite taken when I was there, but I also saw a group of 3 headed toward Lila when I was leaving.

Falls colors are starting to shine.

My wife, dog and I hiked up to Rampart Lakes via the Rachel lake trail. Road was gravel and washboard-y, but altogether in great condition. Almost no large potholes. We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 am, and grabbed one of the last couple available spots. We took our time - close to 9h total - taking a looong break for doggie swimming and lunch at Rachel lake. I’ve done the trail to Rachel a few times now, and each time I’m thrown off by the amount of elevation in the last couple miles before the lake. It’s not that there are a ton of feet gained, but rather that the trail conditions are so poor that it’s very tiring to navigate. Many large boulders and scree zones, requiring large step ups… over and over again. This was challenging.

The trail from Rachel to Rampart lakes was gorgeous - with fewer large step ups than before, but still with some slippery scree areas. Poles are recommended but not necessary. As you ascend, the view of Rachel and the surrounding Cascades gets more and more spectacular. This was a part of the hike I had never done before, and really enjoyed. We got to Rampart Lakes area at about the 5 hour mark and did some exploring, plus some eating of ripe huckleberries. For this trip in early September, the alpine wildflowers were in bloom in the mostly dry/muddy creek beds. We refilled our water from the largest lake with our gravity filter, and headed back down. 

This entire hike was characterized by intense periods of elevation and long, mostly flat terrain. On the way back down, we had lots of trouble navigating the boulders with the dog on lead, so we had some periods when we let him off lead to work his way down. We usually never do this on hikes, but felt it was best for everyone’s safety given the rough terrain. The flat part on the way back seemed to go on forever, but we were treated to some beautiful views of the valley and flora in golden hour. Given the length (we logged around 12 miles) and our hiking abilities, next time we do this trail, we will make an overnight trip out of it, as we saw many people doing.