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.
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