Fall Hiking at Rampart

8 October 2014

Lillian Lake

 The fall colors were so good last Sunday when we flew from the Rampart launch that C.J. and I thought it would be good to do a hike. It couldn't be too long or difficult because my knee was not fully healed from the whack it took when I was dragged across a rock pile on the Keechelus lakebed. Looking at the WTA (Washington Trail Assoc) website, I found "Lake Lillian Backdoor", only three miles and 1200 ft. gain to a beautiful lake just below the classic Rampart Lakes.

It would have been easy to get an early start because we didn't have very far to drive to reach the trailhead. However, we did not start up the boot track until after 11:00. There were two vehicles parked in the clearing at the end of the Rocky Run valley (FS 136) but we never saw any other people at all. The trail was unofficial but reasonably well-maintained. Still, it was more like a climber's approach path than a hiking trail because it went straight up with no significant switchbacks. We had views of Laura Falls and through-the-trees view of Laura Lake before we climbed over the last ridge to reach the junction with the Mt. Margaret Trail (no signs) and the shore of Lillian Lake. It was a great scenic lunch spot (12:15). After lunch we started to make our way around the SW end of the lake but the rock scramble was a bit short on large, convenient holds so we gave that up and headed down. Surprisingly the descent was not as bad as we had expected and we were back at the car in less than an hour.

Rather than head directly home I wanted to see if the

C.J. looking down at Laura Lake

AWD Sorento could make it up the rough road to the launch. In four-wheel-lock and first gear, we made it up but we scraped the bottom a couple of times and it was slow going. Also, I'd want new tires before trying it again (these are the original tires and have over 50,000 miles). On launch the wind was light and the cycles were right in. Nobody was there (although the Eureka tent was still pitched behind the PG launch). Driving down wasn't any better but I actually got to use the automatic braking option which kept us going about five mph. Just when we got back on FS 136 we met two cars coming toward us. We had to back up to the turnoff for the road to launch. When we met, the women in the first car asked, "Is this the way to the highway?" Not quite. Hopefully they got turned around and followed us back to the mainline and Gold Creek Road.