Summary
A challenging route and scramble that gets you to lakes fast and hard. It's tougher coming down than going up.
I've been wanting to try this one out with its rep for being rough around the edges and also having the famous Rampart Lakes as the payoff. It definitely checked those boxes.
Driving in is a little spooky with the drop-off so close to your left on the way in on a single lane unpaved road. Pray you time your entry and exit right so you don't have to backup to the very sparse pull offs. On the plus side, it's kind of fun with a 4WD on all the potholes and uneven bed.
As this trail is unmaintained and thus unlikely to get upgrades or repairs, I'm just going to touch on a few notes and strategies for getting in and out relatively unscathed.
- It's steep -- but if you have good lower body strength, you can get away with high-stepping all the way up beyond Lake Lillian without even trekking poles.
- That said, you will probably need poles on the way back down. I didn't slip, but I came pretty close, and you really don't want to on the 100% grade section between Lillian and the ridge above.
- Pre-load the area on CalTopo or Gaia and refer to your position whenever you think you're off-track. In a previous report, a technical scramble around Lillian was mentioned which is an option on the recorded routes, but there's a less hairy way up and around that rock I chickened out on and ended up using. In any case, given it can be easy to get heads-down when strenuously ascending, don't hesitate to take a moment and reassess if the boot path you're on is the right one.
- No privy found at trailhead, so make your peace beforehand or hold it until Rampart Lakes.
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