A beautiful trail and a very lovely perfect hiking day. 68 degrees, sunny, nice breeze, no bugs, a few people, one other dog!! There are still some snow patches in the darkest part of the valley floor, but they only affect the trail by causing mud patches and multiple small creek crossings. The falls are absolutely wonderful, full of spray. There are some larger snow patches at the lake, but the camp sites are melted out. The lake is snow free. We hiked up to the ridge top, the trail up is melted out, but the ridge top is completely covered in 3-4 feet of snow. Since we forgot our compass and the clouds blowing in from the west were breaking up just over the edge of the ridge top, giving the impression that they could descend at any minute, we opted not to try for Rampart Lakes. One thing I should mention is that the steep section just before lake is all roots and rocks and erosion (reminds me of New England hiking). The rest of the tread is well maintained.
Flowers that are blooming now include trillium, yellow violets, heather, a blue penstemon (did not identify) and salmonberry. A delphinium or monkshood will be in bloom and over 4 feet tall in the swampy meadows by next weekend.
Comments