Mount Margaret, Margaret Lake & Lake Lillian — Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2020

I left the TH just before 7:30 this morning with only 4 cars in the parking lot (it was full when I got back). The road had some rough patches (namely right at the beginning of the left turn) but I did okay in my low-clearance vehicle. I tried to go early to avoid encountering too many people, but in return I got a very foggy hike since the clouds didn't burn off until later! The trail directions were good and not too hard to follow (and folks have done a good job indicating the main trail along the way) and it took me an hour to reach the Margaret Lake/Lake Lillian fork. First, I went to Margaret Lake and then came back up and headed to Lake Lillian. There were large muddy patches near both lakes and a few small snow patches (all easy to cross if you don't mind getting your boots a little dirty). On my way back from Lillian, I went up the trail with the red flagging tape to reach the top of Mount Margaret. I sat at the summit as I watched the fog start to clear up, but the mosquitos got pretty annoying since I was sitting there for awhile. At last, I got a glimpse of Lake Kachess and the mountains east of Margaret, so I headed down and returned to the lot around 1:00, clocking in around 9.5 miles.