Rachel Lake — Friday, Jul. 4, 2025

Previous trip reports describe this trail well! Lots of roots and rocks, so you needed to watch your footing almost constantly. The lake and waterfalls are lovely and there were plentiful wildflowers in bloom. Although there is water running down the trail, it was all navigable without getting our feet wet. Do use a trails app to keep on track through some of the steep section. We clocked about 7.5 miles and just under 2000 feet of elevation. Just under seven hours on the trail, including a nice long lunch break at the lake. There was plentiful parking at 9 am on July 4, and, although there were lots of people on the trail, it never felt crowded. Note that the trail rules are that dogs need to be on a leash—a little tricky for us and our pooch to use the leash through some of the water crossings and steep scrambles up rocks.