Rampart Ridge - Rampart Lakes, Rachel Lake — Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

We, a group of 5 from Mountaineers went to hike the Rachel and Rampart Lakes today.

We started the hike at around 8:45 am, and finished the entire hike in 8 hours. 10.64 miles with 2650 feet of gain.

The trail is in excellent shape, with few fallen trees. Exactly the same as last time I did last year in October.
There are a lot of berries, Thimble, Blue and Huckleberries.

The first 3 miles are flat with few stream crossings, nothing crazy!
After that, the fun begins - Climb to the Rachel lake and then another climb with a lot of switchbacks to the Rampart ridge.
once you're at the Rampart ridge, take a left to the Rampart Lakes and right to the Lila Lakes.
The trail is almost flat from here, with a lot of social trails open up near the Rampart Lakes.
Rampart are a collection of beautiful Lakes, it was much more enjoyable. a light breeze was up there which made it so refreshing.
otherwise the entire trail was too hot and humid.

The visibility was a little bad in the morning, hazy! but it got better in the afternoon.
Weirdly, we had no issues with the Bugs!
At Rampart, we heard a lot of Pikas and Marmots.
Overall, an excellent hike!

We saw many backpackers on our way down!