My 7yr old son and I had a fun backpacking experience to the upper Anderson Lakes. We camped at the further-up of the two upper Anderson Lakes. We arrived at the trailhead around 3:30pm (Saturday). There were about 6 other vehicles.
Trip stats (one way) to the upper upper Anderson Lake: 2.6 miles and roughly 955ft elev. gain and 318ft loss elev. loss. It took us just over two hours to get there, (and just over 1.5 hours on our return trip.) There are some fall colors to be enjoyed. We found lots of tasty blueberries at the upper lakes. There was a couple camping at the lower upper Anderson Lake. We had the upper upper Anderson Lake to ourselves. There are plenty of gorgeous mountain views as well as beautiful forest to enjoy on this hike.
The main thing to be aware of on the hike to the upper Anderson Lakes is how steep the trail is once you leave the main trail to Watson Lakes. It is steep and slippery. Almost technical steep. And remember you have to come back down that steepness. The trail is narrow and also overgrown. The steep trail you leads you to a ridge line with views of Watson Lakes to the East and mountainous forest views to the West.
Eventually you’ll arrive at a gorgeous meadow just below the lakes, (which are not in view yet.) The lakes come quickly after the meadow. The blueberry bushes are currently contrasting red leaves with blue blueberries there. Presently there are also a beautiful array of reds, yellows, and oranges of fall foliage mixed in with the green lakes, green pine trees, and white rocks & boulders.
Bugs were not an issue at all. There were a few muddy spots overall, likely due to the heavy rains this past week. The forest road had deep ruts in it likely also due to the heavy rains. I’d recommend a high clearance vehicle if you have one.
The upper Anderson Lakes area is one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever been to in the PNW. Stay safe, go slow, and enjoy!
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