Trailhead: The road turns to dirt after the campground at Kachess Lake. The road had some wash boarding, but overall was not too bad. Not big potholes or anything and should be pretty passable for almost any vehicle. We got to the trailhead at 10 am on a Sunday and there were still a few parking spots. Not too bad.
Trail: you start off with a pretty decent up hill portion before it flattens out. The trail is pretty overgrown in stretches with a lot of berry bushes and a very narrow track. It is only about 600 ft elevation gain over the course of the first 2.5 miles. Then the trail really kicks into gear. The remaining 1300 feet elevation gain takes place in a little more than a mile. At this point the trail is mostly going straight up the backside of the canyon wall and can really not be called a trail. Mostly up rock faces, dry creek beds, root systems, and other very rough paths. It was totally doable the whole way, but folks should know what they are getting into. I really want to come back to continue up to Rampart Ridge and Rampart Lakes and explore the area further.
Lake: The lake was beautiful. I wished we got to spend more time there. Nice breeze and sun while having lunch of the rocks. That mostly kept the bugs away. I would love to come
Bathrooms: the bathrooms at the trailhead were great and had tp. There is a toilet at the lake but I didn't go check it out.
Wildlife: Saw plenty of chipmunks along the trail and at the lake looking for handouts. Remember to not feed the wildlife and keep wild animals wild. Also saw some fish in the creek and lake and plenty of people fishing.
Wildflowers: There were many forest flowers and berry bushes blooming on the trail on the way up, but didn't see any big wildflower meadows. Some bear grass at the top too.
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