**very happy to have brought: sunscreen, water filter, poles....didnt need microspikes/traction. 

Parked at 7am - and only 6 other cars.  Highly recommend an early start.  

Very little snow encountered between rachel lake to the top of the ridge above rachel lake.  just patches, easily doable.  

There were more consistent snow fields on your way to rampart lakes.  All - totally doable.  To me, the trail above the snow was still obvious, but i'm sure some route-finding skills will help.   Most of the lakes/tarns were melted out, except the large in the back basin.  Icy blue colors, i saw 3 other people, plenty of dried out campsites, no bugs.  

On the way down, there were at least 40 people on their way up.  maybe 1/2 were planning on camping at rachel lake....those sites will fill fast.  So consider back-ups (rampart lakes or lila lake area).

Great little hike to Rachel Lake; too bad the weather wasn't a bit better for me. Road is typical poorly maintained NFS road, so take it slow if you have a low clearance vehicle. Trail is in fine enough shape until about 2.5 miles in where you start to climb initially. After that, the trail is basically a stream in spots, though pretty easy to keep your feet from getting soaked if you're careful. Bring your GAIA and download maps ahead of time if you're a novice at route finding, though most won't have any trouble with this trail. Trekking poles are also pretty handy. Lake is very pretty, and would be great for swimming on a hot day. Sadly due to crappy weather, I didn't venture up to Rampart lakes as I intended; let alone swim! Definitely will be coming back up once things heat up a bit!

Gorgeous wildflowers throughout the hike.  Meadows were lush.  Most stream crossings were manageable but a few were more challenging. I was happy to have a walking pole to help.  As described in other trip reports, the stream is the trail at times.  Be prepared to get your hiking boots wet.  The vast majority of hikers were respectfully social distancing. Wonderful hike right now. (Note: The trail to Rampart Lakes or Alta Mountain DOES have snow crossings.)

On Friday morning, we hiked up past Rachel Lake to the cliffs above Lila Lake. The hike to Rachel Lake was warm and Rachel Lake was beautiful. Once we reached the ridge above Rachel Lake, there was lots of snow. You can follow footprints in the snow, but a GPS is recommended. I used Gaia on my iPhone. We hiked over to Lila Lake, but had to stop at the cliffs above. The trail down the cliffside to the lake was totally snowed over and too steep to hike in the snow (at least without microspikes or snowshoes). Lila Lake was frozen. We camped in a snowbank, beneath a glad of trees, on a cliff overlooking the lake. It was beautiful! We drew water from a smaller lake that was partially frozen.

On Saturday, we woke up to watch the sunrise from the cliffs. It was freezing but incredible! We did a day hike up to Alta Mountain, which was gorgeous. The trail was mostly snow free and very doable, but I wouldn't recommend to people unsteady on their feet. We also scrambled down the cliff face (probably class 3) to explore the region around Lila Lake.

We hiked out on Sunday. The snow was melting fast so the streams and waterfalls were flowing strong. I expect the region up near Lila will be snow free relatively soon. 

I started my solo hike much later than I wanted to, around 12noon. The Rachel Lake trailhead lot was full but there are plenty of spots to park down the road. I did not encounter a huge number of hikers on trail, and the hike was super easy for the first couple of miles. After that, the last mile up to Rachel Lake was fairly strenuous for two reasons: elevation gain and basically hiking off and on through a creek. Rock hopping and/or stepping in a bit of water is necessary. I enjoyed that about this hike, especially the many very accessible waterfalls that I passed. No need to carry a lot of water if you're carrying a filter. I started seeing a few snowfields as I neared Rachel Lake, and the Lake was beautiful, a truly great destination for camping.

However, there were a number of campers, so based on the report of a couple hikers I passed I decided to press on to Rampart Lakes for a little more privacy. Immediately, I made my way across a snowfield to the switchbacks that take you up the ridge and above Rachel Lake. If you stay at the Lake, you really should head up this ridge just for the views of Rachel Lake from above.

From here to Rampart Lakes I hiked across mostly hard packed snow fields (no extra traction necessary), following footprints and Gaia maps until I reached the first lake and a camper. I continued on until the very end of Rampart Lakes where I found a nice camping spot on a rock next to a tree. There were a handful of campers there. 

I encountered my first rangers in the wild! They walked through the area in the morning and I noticed them dismantling the freshly used fire pit of one of my neighbors. They wanted to know if I had a fire pit ( I did not) and they wanted to know if I had filled out a permit at the trailhead. I believe it reached the mid-30's at night, but overall a very nice experience. It took me a few hours to hike out.