Very wet and buggy at times, and Bare Ridge is little more than a goat path or stream/creek trail in places. The lakes themselves have an overpower "flavor" that permeates filtered water and one's nostrils; you'll be able to "taste" it for a few days.

13.1mi 1120m ascent, max 150m/km.

Abandoning a plan to hump up Pilchuck, Geezer Patrol minus two opted to save that one for a sunny day and instead reverted to Ashland Lakes.  The road going in is a mortar field but after convinced ourselves it was too rough for most cars, we arrived at the TH to find a low clearance Hyundai.  So much for being unstable geniuses.

Prep your feets for lotsa rock and roots cuz thats what this trail is all about as soon as you cross the fairly new, all fiberglass bridge.  It is a thing of beauty from an engineering view - no maintenance required.

The hump to Beaver Plant Lake is only 400' of gain over 1.7 miles of good sized trees but very rocky/rooty trail and only a few mucky spots.  The lake level is high putting the boardwalk areas almost under water.  Both Upper and Lower Ashland Lakes were also high as that was about all we could see being in the middle of a fog bank.

We routed around the south side of Upper Ashland for a lunch spot.  That trail is both overgrown and in sorry shape from lack of care and people traffic.  Its easy to lose the trail at the East end from a large, recently fallen tree.

All of this hike is in the Morningstar Conservation Area managed by the DNR.  The campsites looked to be in fair condition with new firepits installed and poopers at each lake site.  Perfect for a first outing with a backpack, for young kids or geezers with IBS.  Lots of little frogs but no fish were to be seen and almost no other people !.

Loaded up the wife and kids and headed to Ashland Lake looking for a fun hike with as little trail traffic as possible. The drive in is pretty wild. Took us 30 minutes to cover the last 4 miles. Pot holes, meteor impacts, mortar shell explosions - the road is rough. Would not recommend driving up this without a high clearance vehicle. We arrived at the trailhead just before noon on Saturday. There were 4 cars in the lot and not a person to be seen. Trail is in good condition. Beware - the planks are super slick. All four of us took a dive at least once! Many wet spots, mud holes abound, and a few large trees down throughout. The kids had no problem making their way around all the obstacles. We had lunch at the very end of the trail (at lower Ashland Lake). Saw a total of 12 people on the trail. Made it back to the parking lot around 4:30. There were about 10 cars and a few groups just heading up the trail. GPS had us at 6 miles total - including the small detour to Beaver Plant Lake. 

Really rough road to the trail head.  Glad we were in our SUV.  The trail is easy, gradual climb at the beginning, then mostly flat. Water is stagnant lake water.  I wouldn't swim in it.  Didn't see much wildlife or pretty flowers but still was enjoyable excercise.

I don't think I've ever uttered as many expletives on any other road to the hike then I have on this one. I've also never been as worried about my tires, and realizing I don't have anything to pump them back up if I got a flat. If we're going to have a pothole-filling party: let me be the first one to know. The road into the trail was awful. Pretty sure this is not what my 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid find up for. Sorry, car. We reached the turn off to Boardman Lakes, Bear Lake, Ashland Lakes at about 6:43am. We finally reached the Ashland Lakes trailhead at 7:16am. The dog had a good time sticking his head out the window during this travel though. There was one or other car already in the lot. Vault toilet was open, but had no toilet paper - come prepared!

The hike was fantastic though. No bugs, just lots and lots and lots of morning cobwebs I destroyed with my face. The tree obstacles only get bad on the way down to the lower lake. One gentleman was camping at the lower lake. Only saw four other groups of people on the way back up to the trailhead. Made it back to the parking lot at 10:30, there were only 6 new cars in the parking lot. Ran into two cars on the way down and two cars at the bottom that weren't able to make it through the potholes. It's really that bad.

The hike was phenomenal--perfect length, not too steep, nicely maintained for the most part, good view payoffs, not really a lot of places to sit without being in the mud however, but still a perfect morning.

* Be cautious of the slippery boards - I am now rocking a gnarly bruise on my shin.