Cooney Lake, Sawtooth Lakes Loop & Eagle Lakes — Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021

We did this classic loop counterclockwise, staying at Upper eagle lake the first night and Cooney lake the second. We just missed the crowds by starting on Sunday, but arrived to a ridiculous amount of cars overflowing far down the road from the trailhead parking lot. We passed around 100 or so people hiking out on Sunday, many of whom complained about how crowded the lakes were with groups essentially camping on top of each other. We arrived at Eagle lake to find all campsites open, so we choose the best and biggest one in the middle of course! Several other groups trickled in before sunset but it was not crowded at all. On Monday we continued over Horsehead Pass which was pretty easy, and down to Boiling Lake. The slog up to Angel's Staircase is definitely the hardest section of the loop but the views are fantastic. We found Cooney Lake to be a bit more crowded with most sites already filled, but we still found a great spot just off the lake towards the privy that fit 3 tents just fine. The larches are loosing most of their needles by now but the carpet of gold is still quite beautiful even though the trees are starting to look very haggard. It's past peak here with snow in the forecast, so conditions may change rapidly going into early winter. 

**After leaving Cooney Lake, there is a quick left hand turn that we missed and isn't marked well, as did several other groups we talked to, so watch your GPS closely! It cost us a mile or so each way, and an additional 600' of climbing back up to the junction of the Martin Creek Trail. **

There isn't much water on this loop other than the lakes and a few trickles of mostly dried up streams here and there. We logged 26 miles and 5500' of climbing on Gaia, but that includes the extra 2 miles and 600' of backtracking after missing the turn after Cooney.