I. Will. Never. Hike. This. Trail. Again.

And that's too bad, because I hiked it years ago and loved it. I will say that once you get up to Rampart Lakes it's ALMOST worth all the stuff you put up with to get there, including:

- Crowds. Oh, and lots of people. With dogs, usually unleashed. Plus, all the OTHER people. Seriously, crowds like Disney Land. The worst I've ever seen. I picked the trail because it was so far from Mt. Si; thought I'd be safe from the masses. NOPE.

- The trail is rough in places, probably because about 300 other people were on the trail. At the worst parts you lose the trail and follow other lost feet through brush, up slippery rocks, and into mud.

- If you don't get there early the parking starts to gets tougher.

All complaining about the massive number of people aside, I really don't get WHY so many people were there. The trail is not that impressive. Yes, Rachel Lake viewed from above is pretty. Yes, Rampart Lakes are nice to sit at for a bit and enjoy the relative silence after leaving most of the crowds below at Rachel. But they're not THAT amazing, and definitely not worth the crowds and trail conditions.

You can do better.

Hiked to Rampart Lakes via the "backdoor" route from the Lillian Lake trail. We set it up as a point-to-point route with one car left at the Lillian TH and one at the Rachel Lake TH. 

Snow/route: The route to Lillian is completely clear. Routing from Lillian to Rampart gets more interesting. Getting out of the lake basin is quite a climb, but it was dry for us. Past this there are quite a few snow fields to cross as you make your way across the ridge, a few that are quite steep. With spikes and poles we managed to make it the whole way. There are a few slopes that you can slide down with good technique. The next few weeks be extra careful if you decide to take this route, as the snowmelt over streams could become quite dangerous. 

Trail/camp: Rampart Lakes and the Rachel TH are extremely crowded. Half of the hike down from Rachel is essentially a steep creek, so be careful, give other hikers and yourself space. 

Road: The Lillian TH road is pretty rough and the lot is small. The Rachel TH road is very trafficked as there are other trails/climbs, along with the big campground. 

Lovely hike in need of everyone's help to be protected from increasing visits!

There are plenty of potholes to avoid on the road, but it is wide enough to avoid them. The most difficult part is that on your way out (or way in as well depending on how early you start your hike), the last mile (ish?) is one way - due to all the cars parked on BOTH sides of the road.

This hike, while beautiful, has become extremely popular. Having left Rachel Lake at 7am Saturday, and off trail by 11 - my partner and I counted 70-80 overnight packers plus 3-4 times that many day hikers. There is generally enough space for one group to pull off trail - uphill hikers should be given precedence to pass unless they pull over first!

The last mile up to the lake is strenuous for grade already, but there was a good quarter mile where the creek chose the path of least resistance - the trail. I recommend water proof shoes and a trekking pole!

General things to note: The toilet at Rachel Lake is full - bring a sanitation shovel to dig a hole (guideline on depth and distance from water are listed on the trail head board). Pack out your toilet paper (and all other trash) - it doesn't decompose. If the trail is blocked by piles of branches, it's not the trail. Please don't cut switchbacks - alpine undergrowth is fragile and needs to be protected when seeing hundred of feet a day.

Started up trail around 10:30. Parking was easy, plenty of spaces.

Beginning trail was marked well, some incline but not too bad.   First stream crossing about 1/2 mile in, we were surprised because we’d read that most of the early streams were no longer running.  After 22 streams , 6 hours and a major ending incline , and we were there.  Points to note: trail gets very tricky to find around stream 20.  Nothing is marked.  It looks almost like a water slide before the entrance of the rocky stream.  Just past the water slide rocks, the stream begins to the right, the curves to the left. At the beginning, we had to walk through the flowing water climbing up and over small logs.  Once over the log jam the stream curved and the path continued off to the left.  The path was not well marked and the only way we found it was because someone happened to be walking down.  After that the trail was easy to follow but very steep.

At the lake, the campsite were nicely laid out. It was quite windy and there were many mosquitos. Water is easy to find as it’s a lake, and it wasn’t too busy for a mid-week trip.

Coming down two days later was quite slippery due to rain. Pretty tricky to find good foot spots, poles would have definitely been helpful.

While a beautiful destination, this hike was definitely harder and longer than anticipated. We were second time mother daughter backpackers hoping for a moderately challenging but peaceful trip. This was definitely not moderate. But the views and campsite at the end were definitely beautiful and did not disappoint.

We lost a cellphone. Sushi case. Apple device. It’s a kids. Please contact if found valeriemariemusser@gmail.com