A tale of two trails! This is a stunning trail to gorgeous alpine lakes and the PERFECT time of year to go! Bug free & beautiful!
A few notes:
-we arrived around 11:30 am on sat. Both upper and lower parking lots full. But easily found space on the side of the road
-there’s a bathroom at TH in the parking lot
-despite many cars, the trail was not busy and by the time we got to Rachel’s there were only a few people hanging out by the water
-many on the trail were backpackers and assume several groups were heading up to the ridge to the upper lakes
-as noted in the description, first part of trail through box canyon is gentle and relatively flat
-tons of small waterfalls with crystal clear water. Lots of spots to hang out by little pools
-elevation is all in one go a little over a mile up. It can feel never ending. But the reward of Rachel lake is 100% worth it!
-on the steep section there are a few alt options. Which all converge. Just keep going up!
-my friend had a pool noodle (which got lots of comments - great light weight swim option) and I had a blow up floatie. Fun to have for a nice cold swim!
- there are a few downed trees but easy to navigate.
-and despite heavy traffic - no trash on trail. Way to go everyone #LNT
Enjoy this spectacular trail!
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