Greenwater Trail to Lost Lakes — Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024

We hiked from the greenwater lakes trailhead to Lost lake on Wednesday, then  up to Noble knob and back out to the trailhead on Thursday. We appreciated the newly rebuilt bridges across the greenwater river (thanks WTA). We thought about camping at smaller Quinn lake, and though the campsite was nice, the lake didn’t have any water flowing in or out, so was quite stagnant looking. So, on to Lost lake. We hoped to camp where we had previously (about 10 years ago) but alas, we saw a tent there, so we found another, not nearly as nice. But…no one ever showed up at the other spot. It was vacant for the 2 days we were there, and probably longer. It was a giant tent probably about 30 pounds, so not backpackers. We were very annoyed that they  had taken the nicest spot on the lake for who knows how long. They could have at least left a note saying when the site would be occupied again so others could use it. If by chance it was a base camp for a WTA work party, ok. But most likely it was hunters staking out a base camp. Very rude.
Rant over, the lake was delightful for swimming and the bugs weren’t near as bad as when we were here before. The hike up to Noble knob the next day (a 2000 foot climb) was a grunt in 80 degree weather with smoke in the air, but there were still wildflowers blooming on top and a nice breeze kept the bugs away.
We returned to our camp to rest before packing up and heading out. It was a long day on tired legs.