Hiked into Dorothy for a couple nights with friends over the holiday weekend. We had much of the lake to ourselves on Friday night, but returned to a very full lot overflowing a bit down the road. Given its proximity and ease of getting to the lake, I wasn't too surprised. What I was surprised by is that, given those things and how well maintained the trail is, the majority of the campsites along Dorothy are not great. In fact, we hiked clear to the far end of the lake to look for good sites, and ended up returning to claim one close to the lake outlet instead, as we were unimpressed by the rest.
The lake itself is beautiful and very quiet. Many of the sites are far off the trail down towards the lake, so you will get a lot of solitude even if the trail is busy.
Saturday, we attempted to hike up to Bear lake, but turned back when the weather started to dampen. We were probably 3/4 of a mile past the crossing at the inlet. The crossing itself wasn't too bad. You could probably do it in boots and stay dry if you are a competent rock hopper. I opted to de-boot and use my water shoes, which made for a quick crossing. The water is about shin deep in some places, and shallower in most.
To the dude peeing at the crossing - what the f#$%? I've seen some puzzling behavior on the trails this year, but peeing basically into the lake inlet and on a popular stopping point for lunch by the crossing is just foul.
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