Started early, at the trailhead by 7:20, only about 6 other cars in the upper lot. Made it to Rachel Lake by 11:00 for a snack, and then pressed on to Lila. Not many people on the trail, most were wearing masks. Only one other group present and planning to camp at Lila Lake when we got there. We arrived by 12:45 and didn't see anyone else (not even day hikers) the rest of our time there. This could be partially because the bugs were absolutely terrible. We wore 100% deet bug spray and I still have hundreds of mosquito bites. They started at the trailhead, and only go worse as we got closer to the lakes. Constantly 5-10 bugs around our heads at all times. Ended up having to spend time in the tent just to get a break from them. But the weather was beautiful, bring lots of water! The lakes were a refreshing swim spot, and the views were stunning. Just beware of bugs! 

 I saw that the forecast was going to be in 90s today so I headed out early to try to beat the heat! Got to the TH at 7am with only a few cars in the lot/ on the side of the road (I’m assuming they were backpackers who parked previous day). Toilet at TH had toilet paper and in decent condition.

Beginning of the trail is very mild. The first 2ish miles, there are some easy-to-cross streams/flowing water on the trail, but very manageable. There are some muddy areas as well that do not help the whole bug situation. Made it to Rachel Lake by 9am and only passed a couple of backpackers making their way down. I continued on to Lila Lake and found some reprieve from the MASSIVE amount of bugs along the ridge. But don’t worry, they were back in full swing down by Lila Lake. Only saw one other group camping near the lake.

Temperatures were starting to climb so I decided to take a quick dip in Rachel Lake before heading down. It was frigid but I was grateful to cool down a bit! There were a lot more people making their way up and quite a bit of backpackers. Parking lot appeared to be 75% full, but I didn’t look at the lower lot. I’d say only about 30% of people had face coverings…

Note- I went through 3 liters of water! Make sure to bring enough to stay hydrated in this heat!

Happy Trails!

More photos @jac.of.all.trails

Backpacked up to Rampart Lakes.  Gorgeous area but very hot and swarms of bugs--really bad.  Shade was hard to find.  On the day hike, up to Alta, I found a very nice knife, with case--looks expensive.  Found on the side of the trail, near first false summit.  Please write me, provide details, to retrieve. The resident goat visited our camp Monday night; he had a huge monitoring collar on and was very healthy and very mellow.  Hated the trail on the way down: the hell mile, first mile going down from Rachel, deserves its name--very steep.  Just tough with a heavy backpack.  It is all roots, big down-steps, some minor trail finding, and some rock climbing going down.  This section makes the last trail mile to Tuck and Robins Lake,  look like Green Lake.   Take at least 3 quarts of water on the up-climb, if you don't want to pump at Rachel.  Beautiful hike, but you have to earn it on a difficult path.

Driving up to the TH:
The the drive on the forest road is manageable. Most of the potholes are little, and the handful of larger ones are easy to avoid. Should be no problem driving in a sedan.

Parking:
We arrived at the parking lot around 6:45 am Sunday morning. I was able to find a spot quickly, though the lot was about 90% full already. A good chunk of them were overnighters. There is a restroom, and a trash bin inside. If you don’t have a forest pass you’ll need to pay the $5 parking fee. The pay station is located at the sign just before entering the parking lot. I totally spaced out and didn’t notice it, so when I returned later there was a notice on my car. Luckily it wasn’t a crazy parking ticket fee, but a request to pay by mail with a payment envelope included. Bless the rangers for doing that!

The hike:
The first half of the trail is in good condition as the first 2-3 miles are a pleasant gradual ascent. The last mile is a little tougher as it gets steeper, but more of the trouble is following the right trail. I took the wrong way a couple times, but was able to find the trail soon after. We passed groups of hikers roughly every 20 minutes or so, going up and hiking back down. Seems like most people also had trouble trail tracking, but people hiking down can help guide you in the right direction. Along the way are several spots to take a break by the creek and enjoy the scenery. There’s also a nice little waterfall within the last mile of the ascent. It’s really beautiful and reminds me of Bridal Veil Falls. Most of the trail is covered under the trees, avoiding the heat.

The lake:
There were a lot of people that had camped at the lake the previous night, and most of them packing up to leave. There was a good amount of people spread out all around the lake, and several spots to walk right into the water. The lake is a beautiful blue and VERY cold; I went for a few quick in and out swims. The bugs were horrible there and possibly worse than on the trail, so you’ll definitely want to bring bug spray.

Overall:
All in all a great hike, and great effort to reward ratio. I will hike this trail again some day.
The amount of people wearing masks or no masks was about 50/50, and there are some places that are too narrow to pass other hikers at a safe social distance.

My dog and I walked a point-to-point I have been thinking about trying for a while, starting at the Rachel Lake trailhead and ending at the Mount Margaret trailhead, by way of Rachel, Rampart, Lillian, and Twin Lakes and some brief exploration on Mount Margaret.

Overall, the trail(s) were in good condition. A tiny bit overgrown below the climb to Rachel, a couple steep and rocky areas (particularly descending to Lillian) where I was reduced to scrambling a bit (the dog, however, with his low center of gravity, has a strong advantage on this terrain), and one larger remaining snow field climbing up the ridge past Rampart Lakes, which is a bit soft later in the day but kick-steppable without special gear.

Crowds, pretty major getting to Rachel, a bit quieter from Rampart to Lillian, a few parties heading down the Backdoor in the late afternoon, and a few parties on the Mount Margaret trail. Most people had face gear and/or were respectful with passing. The camping situation looked tight to me in all usable areas.

Bugs, not the worst, but not great. I guess after this trip report is done I'll play connect-the-dots on my arms---I was wearing a permethrin-treated shirt in an attempt to test it out, but got bitten through it anyway. The situation was better where there was a bit of a breeze. Swampy Twin Lakes were absolutely abysmal. Remember to practice LNT wrt swimming in heavily-used, high mountain lakes and using insect repellent. I spotted a couple Cascades frogs up at Rampart, amphibians are extremely sensitive to pollutants.

Around 13 miles total, ~3500 feet of gain.