Two nights at Lake Grace via the Wildhorse Creek trail. Wow, what a special destination. And an interesting hike to get there. Has a little of everything (addt'l details below) - flora, fauna, vistas, cool rocks, meadows, lakes, streams, waterfalls, open forest, etc. Hike to get there is long, but did not disappoint at all.
We hiked in on Friday AM (11:30 start from trailhead) and saw a pair hiking out and another hiking in. We were the second or third group to the lakes. Two more pairs arrived after us. Two groups departed early Saturday and no one else arrived before we left Sunday AM.
As others have noted, the trails (both) are brushy in spots. The Wildhorse Creek trail is also pretty muddy in spots. The Lake Grace trail climbs steeply, but it's not hard to follow and didn't feel overly difficult (other than the elevation gain).
Flora: Wildflowers are great right now, and such a diversity of blooms from trailhead to lakes. Not an exhaustive list but we know we saw twin flower, corn lily, cow parsnip, monkeyflower (purple and yellow), fireweed, columbine, orange dandelion, pearly everlasting, valerian, different types of penstemon, paintbrush, lupine, aster, pasqueflower, spirea, elephant's head... SO MANY FLOWERS! Berries (thimbleberries, blueberries, huckleberries) are also excellent and plentiful. The huckleberries on the Lake Grace trail are superb and helpful fuel for the final push!!
Fauna: Lakes are full of trout, my husband caught three or four. At dusk there are dozens jumping to feed one after the other. There are some chonky marmots up there. One tried to take my husband's hiking pole from our campsite, ran about 100 ft with it! Not sure what the endgame there was... Ruler of the Marmots with a carbon fiber scepter? Keep smelly/salty boots and poles out of marmot-reach :) Saw a couple of ground squirrels/chipmunks. Heard some pikas. Saw some deer tracks. A dipper in the Lake Grace outlet and several grouse along both trails. Bugs were surprisingly not bad, the breeze seemed to be keeping them away. When that died down it did get noticeably buggier, but nothing terrible.
Other: As others have noted, the boulder garden close to the end of the Lake Grace trail is beautiful. In addition to the unique rock and sweeping views, there is so much pasqueflower (gone to seed - my fave!), penstemon, and faded coral paintbrush blooming right now. Lovely. The boulder field west/northwest of the larger lake is also neat and a great spot to take in the sunset, which were breathtaking both nights. My husband took a dip and said the water was great. I just soaked my (tired) feet, which was also great.
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