Tuck and Robin Lakes — Saturday, Jun. 22, 2024

Deception Pass trail is pretty clear to the junction for Tuck Lake. I took care of some smaller fallen logs but there are a few large trees that were too big for my saw and will need some attention. Water is plentiful.

Climb up to Tuck is snow free and the lake is completely melted out.

Climb up to Robin Lakes is NOT snow free nor is the lake basin melted out. The trail can be a bit hard to follow as the lingering snow on the ridge obscures a lot of it. I missed a turn down a steep snow chute and got cliffed out - realized my misroute on the way out. Nothing like class 3 moves with a full overnight pack and a pup 🙄.

Postholed in the soft snow up to the saddle above Tuck. Definitely good to have a pole here - luckily I had found one in the cliffed-out portion of my climb! 😆

Above the saddle, the west-facing granite slab was melted out and made it easy to get up to the lake basin.

Robin Lakes are still snow covered, as is most of the basin. I was able to find a nice place to pitch the tent and I had the whole place to myself for the night!

Yes , you can get up there, but be prepared for some route finding and being comfortable with steep snow traversal.

Oh, also, there’s a bear around Tucquala meadows. Found a giant scat pile in front of my van when I got back to the trailhead, and then while I was enjoying a post-hike refreshment, I noticed a big fuzzy brown bear grazing in the brush 100 feet away.