The plan: Rachel Lake TH to Rachel Lake and onto Rampart Ridge and Rampart Lakes 

Road/Parking Conditions: the road is paved up until just past the campground. Here it becomes a washboard and filled with scattered potholes. The potholes aren't too bad but you definitely have to take it slow. The shadows from the trees make the potholes hard to see as the day goes on. The parking area is well marked as is the TH. The parking lot was about 1/2 full with ten cars or so when I arrived just after 10 am on a Monday morning. 

Trail conditions to Rachel lake: The trail begins steep initially for 0.3 miles or so before flattening out as you enter and leave overgrown meadows full of devils club and tall brush. There are a couple of stream crossings as you begin to approach the creek which you'll follow through the meadows. The trail progressively becomes more rocky and rooty as you go on. Wildflowers become aplenty and views of the surrounding peaks open up. At just under 3 miles, you cross a larger creek crossing, and almost immediately the trail begins to climb. The stair climbing through rocks, roots, and rushing water continue on until you reach and cross beneath a beautiful waterfall. Soon after the trail opens up to the beautiful, turquoise-colored lake. 

Trail conditions to Rampart lake: continue on from Rachel lake counter-clockwise to the right. You'll soon pass your first snow patch before progressing up to Rampart Ridge through tight dusty switchbacks.(Note: Even if you aren't interested in putting in the mileage to rampart lakes, you get a beautiful view of Rachel Lake from above about 0.5 miles from Rachel lake by heading this way. This was my favorite part of the whole trip!) At the ridge you're met with more snow as you reach the junction for Lila Lake and Rampart Lakes. You'll turn left and follow the footprints in the snow as you continue down into a valley. Here's where the trail becomes difficult to follow because of the social trails and snowfields. Where the trail appeared to go, the footprints in the snow ended. My GPS wasn't very helpful, either. The social trails are usually not an issue for me but these ones are quite deceiving in the hilly meadows. I was able to get a nice view from a social trail overlooking what I assume was one of Rampart Lakes as well as part of Rachel lake. I tried to take another part of the main trail (or so I thought) but ended up at a another social trail. I didn't see any tents or people, either. I decided to turn back after a bit of wandering and enjoyed my views from trying to find the real trail! 

Snow conditions: Snow free to Rachel lake. The snow is easy to manage to Rampart Lakes and wouldn't have posed a problem had I been on this trail before. Microspikes not necessary. 

Wildlife: Chipmunks, noises of marmots, a small lizard. I was genuinely surprised I didn't come across any mountain lion prints up at Rampart Ridge. No scat or bear prints. 

Bugs: They weren't bad heading into Rachel Lake but became quite awful through Rampart ridge. Deet helped but I was still bitten quite a bit. They followed me down the trail as the day progressed. 

People: I saw 15 people all day. All were respectful about social distancing. About 1/2 of them were backpackers, the other half-day hikers. 

Wildflowers: SO many. See photo. Also lots of unripe huckleberry and blueberry bushes. 

Gear: you'll want something waterproof and with good traction. I was very happy to have boots for the ankle support and I still rolled my ankle several times. I was happy to have my GPS to Rampart lakes and even at times on the way to Rachel. Garmin per usual-- there is no cell phone service at the TH or anywhere on the trail. Some might find poles nice to have for the way down; I brought one but never used it. 

RT Stats: 11.5 miles, 3300 ft elevation gain. 5 hours total, 4:15 hours moving time. Many photo breaks and Cairn building. I also helped to add some sticks to block off the wrong paths. Hopefully its easier to follow now :)

Happy Hiking! 

Headed out on my first backpacking trip in many years and the first ever for my oldest daughter.  It was a beautiful hike.  Streams, waterfalls, green foliage, and beautiful views were all on display. 

It was considerably rougher and steeper for the last mile than we anticipated (you are essentially hiking up an flowing creek bed), but we pushed through and found a great spot just above the lake with easy access to the water.  The bugs weren't too bad the first day when there was a light breeze, but the next morning with calmer weather they came out in force.  It was tolerable, but be aware that you are going to get quite a few bites!  Overall, it was a great trip and the trail was in excellent shape. 

This is a gorgeous hike (see photos)! On this sunny Monday I passed about 20 people the entire day, including a few groups spending the night. Most people were using masks. The trail to Rachel Lake follows a river nearly the entire time, which is quite full and has frequent and beautiful waterfalls. The views from Rampart Ridge are well worth the extra hike from Rachel Lake, though did make for an exhausting day. The small Rampart Lakes, surrounded by melting snow patches and wandering paths, are magical this time of year. The bugs were worse up at Ramparts than at Rachel, but I have no bug bites today after diligently using repellent throughout my day hike. The snow on the ridge was easy to cross, but I definitely recommend trekking poles, sunglasses and sun screen, as it can be slippery and the the glare is pretty intense on a sunny day. Also, the second half of the trail to Rachel Lake definitely, in my opinion, warrants a GPS, trekking poles, and waterproof boots. It is rocky and rooty, very steep, and at times you are literally hiking in an active creek bed (see photo). The snow on the ridge also makes it a little more difficult to follow the trail. Several times I inadvertently veered off the trail and didn't realize it until I checked my GPS.

Arrived at Rachel Lake Trailhead a little before 9am on Saturday. The lot was full so had to park along the road. The road has a lot of potholes but is fine for any car.

Hiked up to Rachel Lake for lunch. There are quite a few creek crossings and the trail is essentially the creek itself at times. It can also be difficult to follow the trail in some places where people created shortcuts. After eating a quick sandwich, we continued our journey up to Rampart Lakes. The view of Rachel Lake from above was beautiful as always. There are some snow crossings up to and around the lakes, but we never put traction on. We set up camp at the second to last lake, and then set out for Alta Mountain with a much lighter load. The trail to Alta also has a few snow crossings, but it was fine in just boots. The route up Alta can feel unnerving at times, as you are hiking along the top of the ridge with drop offs on both sides. But the trail is pretty easy to follow, even with the snow.

Watch the snowfields. While pretty solid now, there are definitely areas that will collapse soon. I knocked down one small section so that no one would walk over it and accidentally fall through a few feet. 

Stayed overnight and then hiked down in the morning. A cold, windy, and rainy night, but the rain was better than expected on the way down. 

We got a late(r) start to Rachel Lake and approached the TH around 8:30 AM. We were welcomed with a caravan of vehicles shuttling into the area and trying to find parking. My partner had done this hike during the week two weeks ago when it was basically just a muddy bath and didn't see anyone. Two weeks make a huge difference so I would advise getting there early or booking it up to the top quickly to avoid throngs of people. 

That being said, it's a great overnight trip and plenty of people had packs. The first 2/3 of the hike are beautiful with little elevation gain and mostly fields of wildflowers you will hike through. The last 1/3 of the hike is where 1200 of the 1600 ft. elevation gain is experienced with most of it following or hiking through the stream. We were able to summit in 2 hours.

A few notes: Please don't fly drones. This isn't Washington Lake and most people hike a few hours out of the city to get away from the city. Also, take the gravel road slowly. There was a small sedan that took a curve too fast and got caught in a rut formed by a stream, now dried up. Their car quickly followed the rut to the side of the road where their car was tipped to the side and precariously placed on the ledge. It looked terrifying and we felt awful for the driver. It's an easy mistake to make so if you're unaccustomed to these roads, caution is your best friend.