Beautiful solo day hike up to Lila and Rampart Lakes via the Rachel Lake trail. I started out on the trailhead at 5 AM. At that time, the parking already had many cars in it -- presumably all folks who had come in the night before, as judging by the amount of spiderwebs I walked through I was the first person on the trail that morning. It was a lovely, jaunty walk for the first 2.5 miles with several little water crossings and so many gorgeous wildflowers. You'll want to take a lot of deep breaths during this leg of the journey, one, because it smells really good, and two, to prepare yourself for the upcoming elevation gain. The climb to Rachel Lake is definitely spicy. I paused often on my way up to turn around and enjoy the view of the sun rising over the mountains behind me.
I spotted one tent at Rachel Lake as I stopped to take some pictures and planned to eat my breakfast there. However, the mosquitoes were terrible the moment I stopped moving so I forwent eating and continued on. There were only two tents at Lila Lake and I was hoping for a peaceful rest, but despite the added elevation and nice breeze the mosquitoes continued to be a nuisance.
On my way back at the intersection for Lila and Rampart Lakes I made a last minute decision to check out Rampart Lakes as well, which only added an additional 1.5 miles to the trip and was definitely worth it. By 10 AM I was back at the descent to Rachel Lake and was to my car by noon. I passed very large crowds of both day hikers and backpackers on their way up and the parking lot was overflowing by the time I was leaving.
Overall, a really nice hike with plenty of spots to fill up water (which was needed on this warm day), many options to shorten or lengthen your trip, and lots of delightful views. Just remember to bring your bug nets and repellent!
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