I have never been to Lila Lake and wanted to explore. Maps show a number of tarns in that area. The road in was wide and in good condition except for some tight washboarding. Going up was kind of rattly but going down the road was not. There is a new latrine under construction at the trailhead but it is not open. There are two port-potties nearby and they were in good shape. There were only two cars in the parking lot when I arrived under the cover of darkness at 6:30am.
The first three miles of the trail were not too rough although wet in places with make-do logs for some stream crossings and stepping stones for others. The climb up the headwall to Rachel Lake was very rough with lots of roots, rocks, and washed out tread to deal with. In places it is very wet with flowing water and the roots and rocks can gt slippery. It always looks a little different in the rough parts the times I do this hike and this time I managed to get off trail at one point, but found my way back after a little thrashing around on a steep brushy slope flanked by slippery rocks in stream beds. The lesson learned was if the trail suddenly looks sketchy, stop and look around to determine which sketchy direction to go.
Once at Rachel Lake the trail was distinct. The one up the ridge to Rampart and Lila Lakes is the first one left of the one with the sign pointing to the back country latrine. This stretch had some big steps up roots and over rocks. The views of Rachel Lake are good along here. I saw a garter snake here on the way down.
The trail to Lila Lake goes through a forest on a ridge, a brief stretch of large boulders, a talus slope and meadows. Past the first meadow is where the first tarn is located, and just past the tarn a trail to the right takes you to an overlook of Lila Lake with Hibox Peak behind it. I did not see any tents but it looks like there are a lot of places to camp. There is a trail going down to Lila Lake on maps, but I did not see exactly where it started down. It is somewhere close by to the south of the overlook. I opted to continue north on a boot path to several other tarns. This was a good hike through nice scenery. The tarns are each located in their own valley with low ridges separating them. They drain to open country to the east beneath Hibox Peak. The ridge to the west has Alta Peak on its north end. The only people I saw on the trail to Lila Lake were four people on the ridge going to Alta Peak, and I heard them for quite a while until I saw them.
On the way back I took the branch of the trail that goes up the ridge to Alta Peak. It branched off ninety degrees at a boulder that today had a cairn on it. I went up only far enough to get views across the Gold Creek valley to the Snoqualmie Ski Area, Granite Peak, Snoqualmie Peak, Red Mountain and the Kendall Katwalk. The initial climb was steep and gravelly, on the descent probably the gnarliest stretch of the entire day. I started seeing more people after descending from the junction with the trail branch to Rampart Lakes. There were about thirty cars in the parking areas when I left.
In summary - similar to the Rampart Lakes, but more open with more separation between the tarns and Lila Lake. Probably fewer people most days than the Rampart Lakes. A beautiful place to hike around in.
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