Quick Day hike out to Ashland lakes!  The road was rought but no trouble for my explorer.  My friend even made the drive in her Toyota van! I had 4 hrs, so pushed it (for me) and got it done in 3.7hrs including T.F. and back! whew!  Beautiful toasty day! Lots of skunk cabbage and green everywhere! Good Times, great day!

The roads going up (FR 4020 and FR 4021) were full of potholes. I recommend higher clearance vehicle, although I did see a couple Sedans make it up. We hiked all the way back to the lower Ashland lake, bugs were pretty bad, but the trails were in good shape. Would make a neat little camping area if it weren't for all the bugs.....

We decided to continue on and make the trip to Twin Falls and the lake nestled between. The trail was moderate to difficult. It has seen better days, the brush is growing over and making some of the paths narrow. In multiple locations the planks were rotted away or gone altogether. At 1 location the trails was demolished by a windfall and a alternate route was created, there was plenty of ribbon marking the way, but if not paying attention can be easily missed. There was one other switchback that is pretty easy to miss and we spent 5-10 minutes trying to find where the trail continued. This Twin Falls trail is not recommended for pets or children, but is well worth it. The falls and view are spectacular.

Hiking time ~5 1/2 hours.

TRAIL REPORT:

Arrival/Departure Time: 8:00am/1:30pm.
Amount of Cars: 2 vehicles upon arrival/1 vehicles upon exit.  
Road Conditions: Rough. Potholes galore. Recommend minimum a 2WD high clearance vehicle. On my drive down, I drove by two Honda Civics 00' making there drive up. Drive at your own risk. 

Trail  Conditions: Trailhead was easy to locate with a outhouse available at the start. There is a wooden sign indicating direction of the trail start. Trail begins flat with gradual ups and downs. You'll pass by a beautiful steel bridge that crosses a creek. Continue forward and you'll enter a denser forest with your first introduction to the carefully placed boardwalks. It had rained the night before. The boardwalks were very slippery. If you have weak legs or knees, an extra word of caution or hike during a week there sun was abundantly available. After the first 1.7mi you'll run into Beaver Lake which I agreed being the more beautiful lake. Continue forward and you'll hit Upper Ashland and Lower Ashland. Surprisingly, there were outhouses at each lake. I didn't check if it was usable or not. A lot of campsites throughout if you're planning on staying a night in the future. 

I did attempt to trek down to Twin Falls. Right before the bridge towards Lower Ashland Lakes take a right through overgrown bushes. You'll see a clear trail that heads forward. A lot of the broadwalks have been damaged so hike carefully. There is a wooden log bridge you'll have to cross and a couple of streams you may have to maneuver due to the damaged broadwalks. As you head further down the trail does become more obscure but trees are marked well for you to continue forward. I've reached a point where the waterfalls was visible but didn't have time to trek all the way down. BE CAREFUL: On my way up, I had an unfortunate accident and slipped over a cliff. Hit my head and found out later I had a deep laceration on my scalp. I walked back 5mi drenched in blood but luck was on my side and made it to the hospital and back home. Take extra caution if you're traveling on trails that are somewhat closed especially when it's wet. Otherwise, if you have the time to head down, it's definitely doable. I will be back soon when I have more time in the day.  

This was a good introductory backpack for our newest scouts. The FS road could easily be an axle buster, although we did meet a couple of intrepid folks in standard cars. I was glad to have my truck, but it was still a slow go due to the number and size of the potholes. The day was overcast with the threat of showers that came and went. The trail was well maintained although there are a couple of areas, like a large sloping rock in the middle of the trail about a mile in that we carefully made our way over. Then is the single plank bridge over a deep stream by the upper lake. For a day hike these don't seem like much but load a few extra pounds on your back and the character of the challenge changes. On our ingress day the large section of boardwalk seemed over done but the next morning proved this not to be the case. We made the camp ground, very well marked and lots of area, as well as numerous firepits, although a sign at the trailhead noted no campfires permitted, so it was a gather round the camp stove night.

We made camp then did a short hike to the lower lake where we got hailed on for a couple of minutes, then back to the upper lake and camp. The late afternoon was pleasant with sun breaks and minor showers. This changed during the night. Around 10:30pm the sky opened up and dumped rain and hail until around 6:30am. Looking out of my tent I at first thought it had snowed but soon discovered it to be an accumulation of hail. The boardwalks were covered in hail slush which threatened to compress to ice as we hiked out. The lake which had been several feet away from the boardwalk by the camp was now under the boardwalk. The lake raised by at least 3 inches in eight hours.

We carefully hiked out in a constant drizzle and were glad to get off the boardwalks and the hail slush. All our scouts though returned with smiles ready to tackle another backpacking adventure.

Arrived at the trailhead at 8:15 on Sunday morning.  Overcast day, but not raining.  Just two other cars in the parking lot at that time.  There is a vault toilet there, but pretty unsightly.  No toilet paper and since there is no trash can in or near it, apparently some people feel the right thing to do with their trash, beer cans, dog waste bags, and curling iron (really!) is simply to throw it all on the floor of the restroom.

The road up to the trailhead is rough once leaving the Mountain Loop Highway and I was glad to be in a high clearance 4WD vehicle.

The trail is in good shape as far as Lower Ashland Lake and is quite pleasant once it leaves the old logging road.  Much of it on raised boardwalks that are also in good shape given the amount of rain and snow that falls in this area.  Only the occasional loose or missing plank.  The area seems pretty low in elevation, so I was actually surprised to see that there was some lingering snow off to the sides of the trail in early June, especially since we just finished a record warm May.  The trail is not very steep and the mileage to the lakes passes quickly.

When I got to lower Ashland Lake, I wasn't ready to turn around and call it a day.  As it was only about 10:00 am, I decided to try the unmaintained trail to Twin Falls.  I have read reports that the trail is closed, both in the WTA Hiking Guide and in Day Hiking North Cascades.  However, there is nothing to indicate that it is formally "closed."  It is certainly not encouraged as there is no signage pointing the way and it is definitely not maintained, and looks like it hasn't been for quite a while.  The trail takes off to the right just prior to the log bridge over the outlet of lower Ashland Lake.

It is downhill from Lower Ashland Lake to Twin Falls, so uphill on your way out.  The trail continues on raised boardwalk through the forest, though in this section there are many loose, sideways, or missing sections of boardwalk.  Numerous blowdowns too, vegetation encroaching from the side in places, some slides and washouts and the trail is a times difficult to find. All of the items I listed as obstacles in this trip report occur on the Twin Falls leg of the trip (the trail is near perfect as far as Lower Ashland Lake).  That said, it is doable by anyone up for a bit of an adventurous scramble.  No serious bushwhacking required.  In fact, if you are doing that, you made a wrong turn.  Go back to the last place you didn't need to bushwhack and look for ribbons in the trees.  They are there in places where the trail direction is not obvious.

I had the falls to myself and it was a pleasant place to have lunch before the return journey.  If there is a trail down to the pool at the bottom of the lower, and larger, falls, I didn't see it.  I did not encounter any other hikers in either direction between Lower Ashland Lake and Twin Falls.  It would be nice to see this trail get a little rehabilitation so more people could enjoy it.

When I got back to Lower Ashland Lake, there were a handful of hiking groups there, and one or two at both upper Ashland Lake and Beaver Plant Lake, which I actually thought was the nicest of the three and requires a very short detour from the main trail to see.  I did put on bug spray at one of my stops as I noticed a mosquito on my wrist and there were some other swarming insects.  Overall, however, the bugs were not too numerous.  However, I imagine that given all the relative calm and shallow water of the lakes and the boggy surroundings that this area could get pretty bad with bugs.  The rain held off all day and started almost as soon as I got back to the Mountain Loop Highway.