This hike lived up to its reputation: long, grueling and a little tricky to navigate. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I only made it to the first lake, as I was worried about time -- and good thing, as I had to do the last two miles out by headlamp, and this is not a trail where you want to rely much on your headlamp. The beginning (or in this case, the end, on the hike out) of the trail is the most established part, so the route was not too hard to follow as it grew dark.
The trail is made up of several distinct sections. From the trailhead, which is right after the bridge over the impressive Hamma Hamma falls, it starts out as a moderate uphill hike through the woods. After a while, you start gaining elevation at a greater pace, then emerge from the trees at a hilltop area with impressive views of Pershing and some other snow-speckled ridges. This area was snow-covered today, but I never felt the need to break out my spikes or snowshoes all day. (Snow was intermittent throughout the hike, until you break out of the trees again close to the lakes, where the entire area is blanketed.)
From the hilltop, you start descending for a while, until you reach the only serious water crossing. There are plenty of downed trees to choose from to get across. There are other places where water crosses the trail, or the trail becomes a bit of a stream itself, but none of them presented a challenge today. There is also a ravine you have to cross not long after this big water crossing; the water itself is not much of an obstacle, but there is a very steep descent into the ravine. There's a tree in the middle of the trail here. On one side of it the slope is rocky and muddy (the side I took down), and the other is chock full of roots (what I climbed back up on the return).
Once you cross the ravine, you really start gaining elevation in earnest. I think someone else compared this portion to Old Mailbox, and that's a good point of reference. After this slog, you break out of the trees again, and there are some great views, and a lookout spot or two. Very snowy up here, but it was compact enough not to need traction.
You then descend a little bit, edging along some ponds, until you reach the first lake. This was beautiful, and I wish I had longer to spend up here, and to go on to the big lake, but I knew I was on borrowed time. Luckily, I had daylight for the return ravine and water crossings, before I was hiking by headlamp.
A word on route-finding: I was using the Gaia app, and it was spot-on throughout the hike, and a real lifesaver. A previous trip report mentioned that some flagging led them on a wild goose chase, but all of the flagging I saw was in the right direction. It wasn't particularly helpful, as I usually saw it after I had already figured out a confusing area, but it was reassuring to see it -- although at the same time, I was trepidatious, based on that earlier post.
I went astray up by the lakes. Whenever there was snow, I was able to follow fresh bootsteps from three friendly people with a dog who had spent the previous night at the big lake (passed them on their way out, the only people I saw all day). However, their fresh tracks up top represented a shortcut to/from the big lake, so I had to backtrack and break fresh snow along the trail proper, best as I could find it. Again, Gaia was flawless in this area.
Plan on plenty of time -- or an overnight! -- if you want to explore all of the lakes and enjoy what you've earned up there. All told, it took me almost five hours to reach the first lake, and that's with only a quick stop for a sandwich, aside from the backtracking. About three hours back to the trailhead, which I'm sure would have been quicker if the light hadn't waned.
By the way, the road wasn't bad. Plenty of potholes as you get further along, but not hard to negotiate. I think any vehicle could make it with care. Also, the vault toilet was open and stocked.
Comments
An April 9, 2022 update to this report. The road to Mildred Lakes is still snow covered. Gray Wolves trail crew out today removing many trees on/across the road between Lena Lake and Putvin (Lake of Angels) trailheads. Two miles still to clear (we'll tackle 4/13), but it is passable by all cars; you just have to drive around/under fallen trees. ~4" of snow on Putvin trailhead parking; none on road at that point but several drivers told us they had to turn around before Mildred trailhead.
Posted by:
wet red on Apr 09, 2022 06:25 PM