Rachel Lake, Alta Mountain & Rampart Ridge - Rampart Lakes — Tuesday, Jul. 3, 2001

Snoqualmie Region > Snoqualmie Pass

We decided to take advantage of the nice weather on the 4th of July with a hike in an area we hadn't been to before, and went to the Rachel Lake trailhead. The lot was nearly empty, and we hit the trail at 8:30. The first several miles are relatively flat, cool, and pleasant, meandering through beautiful forest and along a large creek, occassionally crossing small creeks and also breaking out into small meadows. The trail is in excellent condition and you can really cruise on this part. After the trail crosses a larger creek with multiple log and rock steps, the uphill starts in earnest, initially along the creek by a long section where the creek flows over large flat rocks, heading up steeply over very rooty terrain. About half way to the lake the trail crosses the creek right in front of a wonderful bridal veil type waterfall, which made for a brief refreshing stop. On up the trail continues, steeply over rock and roots, until finally breaking out into the open basin of Rachel Lake about 4 miles and 2200 feet later. It took us 2 hours to get to the lake. After a brief rest stop there, we contoured the lake to the right and continued on up to Rampart Ridge. This section of the hike was very exposed to the sun, and it was hotter than the 4th of July. No snow at all to the lake or up to the ridge, but some large patches still on top of the ridge. We took another right on top, and headed for Lila Lake and Alta Mountain. The next turnoff, for Alta, can be easy to miss, even though it is well travelled. Just as the trail to Lila starts to traverse under the first hill of Alta, the left turn to the Alta trail is marked by a cairn on a large rock. The trail heads steeply up the first hill, and one or two more behind it, then settles into a gradual climb and traverse along the ridge and over endless more hills and false summits until the true summit of Alta is reached, marked by cairn piles on top. The summit register is missing - there are only business cards and scribbles inside the tube under the big cairn. It took us 2 more hours from Rachel Lake to the summit of Alta, and it was quite exposed to the hot sun the entire way. After cooling down a bit, we pulled on layers of clothing despite the hot weather, as the no-see-ums were thick as clouds up top. We had a nice lunch and enjoyed the great views of Rainier, Adams, Stewart, et al, over to the Hyak ski area and section of I-90, a long swath of the Pacific Crest Trail heading South from Snoqualmie rounding numerous hillsides along the way, down to Lila and Rampart Lakes and numerous other lakelets and tarns in various stages of melt, and even over to the Olympic Mountains in the distant haze. I tried to take some photos only to discover that the camera batteries were dead! The climb up to Alta was quite simple and relatively safe -- no ice axes or boots were needed. Kendra did the whole thing in tennis shoes with trekking poles. After a long break on top we headed back down. On the traverse of the high ridge I slipped and fell in some shale at one point, and the fall dislodged our last water bottle from the side pocket. We watched in dismay as it rolled, bounced, and tumbled over one hummock after the next, continuing to pick up more momentum until it disappeared into the great abyss below. So, we had to scoop some snow into our other bottles and make that suffice for the trip down. The rest of the descent was uneventful but long, with nice breaks to swim at Rachel Lake and to dunk our heads in the creek further down the trail. By this time, Rachel and the lower trail were crowded with people, and it was still hotter than heck out, so we were glad to be heading back into the cooler woods. The stats: Ascent - 4 hours. Descent - 3.5 hours with stops. Conditions - Dry, hot, little snow remaining. Flora - lots of wildflowers on lower Alta. Fauna - two hummingbirds on lower Alta. Bugs - pretty bad, mosquitos to Rachel and no-see-ums all the way to the top of Alta.