I have avoided this hike for a while because of how busy I always assumed it was. Figured I would try the shoulder season, hoping for less crowds. Maybe I did, but if this was less crowded than peak season, this place must be a zoo during the summer.
I arrived at the trailhead a little before noon and had to park on the road. I was only one of 3 other cars on the road, and before I even made it to the trail, at least 2 cars left the parking lot opening up spaces, so had I just been 5 minutes later I would have most likely found a spot. And as I made way up to Rachel Lake, we passed multiple groups heading down, so finding a spot in the lot is still fairly likely, just a little bit of timing luck needed.
Hike to Rachel is exactly as described, long slog through the valley until you hit a wall of a mountain, then it’s a steep climb over some rough terrain. But the payoff is great, Rachel is a beautiful lake.
We spent about 30 minutes at the lake enjoying lunch, sharing the first viewpoint with a few other groups.
We then made our way up to Rampart Lakes, while not as long of a climb as the one to Rachel, this was also a steep climb on some sketch footing.
It was about 3:30 when we made it to Rampart and there were a lot of campers there already. I think I counted 7 or 8 while looking for a spot for myself. A number of the established spots were wet/flooded from recent rains, so it made it a bit more challenging to find a good spot, but did score one. With a decent lakeside spot to sit and relax nearby.
The weather was great all day on the way up, blue skies and mid-60’s. But around 5pm the wind really picked up. We bundled up and powered through, but as the winds never died down, we hit the tent as soon as the sun went down. The wind was whipping pretty good all night, which as a light sleeper made sleep a challenge. It rained for a few minutes a couple of times throughout the night, but just a bit of sprinkling, by morning only the rain fly on the tent was still damp.
I will say, I did get up to go to the bathroom around 1:30am, and at that time the sky was clear, and stargazing was amazing. If the wind wasn't so bad, I would have stayed out and enjoyed that night sky for a bit.
Sunday morning, still cold, and the wind was still going crazy. So much so that we couldn’t bother trying to have breakfast or even a cup of coffee. We packed up camp as fast as possible and made our way back down pretty early. Once we got over to the other side of the ridge it was much more comfortable. We contemplated taking a coffee break back at Rachel, but in the end decided to just forge ahead and get the hike out over with, enjoying coffee once we got back home.
This hike is popular enough, and there are enough reviews I won’t drain on about how beautiful the area is, just know everything you hear is accurate. Like many things, there is a reason this is such a popular hike.
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