The road to Rachel Lake trailhead is in great shape. On the paved road in, there is some roadwork which uses a traffic light to control a single lane for a very short distance. After the paved road, the dirt road does have some washboard but is not a problem driving at moderate to low speeds (25 mph).
I did not have any abnormal problems on the trail. There are a couple trees across the trail and a couple small streams but can easily be managed to get past. Once starting the climb in the last mile going to Rachel Lake, pay attention to the route as there have been several paths in some sections created to get around slides and/or difficult parts.
After Rachel Lake the climb to the ridge line is pretty steep with some lose rock. A few switchbacks provide great views of Rachel Lake.
I started picking some huckleberries at Rachel and picked more along the ridgeline. If going to Alta Mountain, beware there is no turn sign; however, it is not hard to find as there is a sharp left turn off of the Lila Lake trail. Note: the Alta trail follows the ridgeline while the Lila trail traverses on the side of the mountain. Alta trail is pretty steep at first but gets better. The views heading to Alta Mountain only get better while going up. I only went .6 miles out of the 1.0 mile to the top due to time constraints. I could see Mt Rainier, Mt Adams, Rampart Ridge. Rampart Lakes, Rachel Lakes, Lila Lakes, Snoqualmie ski area, Kendall Katwalk, Red Mountain, Snoqualmie Mountain, Hibox and many more, but I could not find Mt Stuart.
After turning around, I headed to Lila Lakes. I was surprised that the trail drops a steep 100 to 150 feet to the lake basin. I wondered how backpackers manage the big step-downs, but they do. I found two main lakes at Lila, but I could also see a couple smaller lakes further along the trail when I was on Alta ridgeline. There was only one campsite taken when I was there, but I also saw a group of 3 headed toward Lila when I was leaving.
Falls colors are starting to shine.
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