Hike #2: Rampart Ridge Backdoor Boogie

For the inaugural hike of my Alpine Lakes Wilderness mission, we chose to check out a trail I'd been eyeing for a while. This "backdoor" route to Rampart Ridge is much shorter than the route normally taken via the Lake Lillian trail. However, it comes with an unmaintained trail and a road with brush growing in from both sides. I white-knuckle our almost-new Subaru Forester to the trailhead, and fortunately there seem to be only minor scratches when we get there. This trail provides very fast access to a number of Alpine Lakes, but on this sunny July day there are only about 6 cars attempting it.

On this hike, Jeannie, Lucas, and Kyra are along for the adventure. The trail starts out on a bit of abandoned road, but then quickly gets down to business scrambling up steep woods alongside Rocky Run Creek. As far as unmaintained trails go, it's not too bad, but it certainly gets the blood pumping. After less than half a mile, we come to our first sight - a magnificent waterfall below Laura Lake. This waterfall would probably be magnificent in the spring time, but it's really cool now too, as the water cascades a good 50-60 feet down a series of rocks. We take a few minutes to check out the falls, and then resume our climb. In places we need to climb on all fours up rocky sections or over blowdowns, but the way is always easy to follow. One other party of four is ahead of on the trail.

After just over half a mile, we arrive at a junction and head down a side trail for a few minutes to Lake Laura. I was not expecting much based on topo and satellite maps, but this lake is downright gorgeous! It sits in a deep bowl and has what appears to be a large island in the middle. I later realize from the map that is is a peninsula. The lake has a nice beach and looks like a really great place for a swim, and it took less than 30 minutes to reach from the car. However, my swimming sights are set on our final destination at Rampart Lakes, so we return to the main trail and continue upward.

Another quarter of a mile has us reach the junction with the Lake Lillian trail, and shortly after that we reach Lake Lillian. It's an interesting approach because the trail comes up from below the lake, and not next to the lake's outlet. So you don't see the lake at all until you're right on top of it, which is unusual because it's a very large lake. Jeannie and I visited here many years ago on the regular trail, which took probably about four times as long as the 45 minutes (or less) it took us to reach via the backdoor route.

We stop for a water break at the lake, and then head around the lake shore to climb up toward Rampart Ridge. There's a bit of rock work to start with, but the worst part of the hike follows - a super steep, loose rock and dirt section of the trail that goes straight up with no switchbacks. It's necessary to hold on to branches, roots, or whatever else is around to make it up this section, and it's not a fun climb with the hot southern exposure. Fortunately, it is short, and we find ourselves atop a pass where the views really start to open up.

The trail mellows out from here and quickly becomes a high-alpine traverse with ever-increasing views. We can see Mt. Margaret behind us, Rampart Ridge to our left, and the various peaks of Box Ridge rising ever higher. The scenery is starting to look familiar - we hiked up to Rampart Lakes the other way last year, via Box Canyon and Rachel Lake. There's a lovely breeze along the ridge that keeps the bugs off, and we see countless alpine wildflowers and start to encounter some lovely small streams and tarns.

We trudge across a north-facing snow patch next to a small tarn - always a welcome treat on a hot summer  day. The trail meanders up and down a bit, and we pass a way trail that goes to the top of Rampart Ridge. I know that we have to drop about 400' down to get to Rampart Lakes, so we'll do that first before deciding if we make it up to the ridge today

On our way down to Rampart Ridge, we have gorgeous views of Hibox Mountain and Alta Mountain, and Rachel Lake eventually comes into view about 800' below us. I had worried about having to do route-finding to make our way down to Rampart Lakes, but this is an obvious trail that doesn't require it. The geography next to the trail is quite amazing, with giant stone formations of varying colors. I love the sounds the scree makes as we're hiking over it.

We cross a marshy area filled with hundreds of frogs and tadpoles - Rampart Lakes and many alpine lakes are havens for these creatures, for some reason I don't understand. Finally, we reach the southernmost of the Rampart Lakes, which is also the largest one. We're feeling pretty tired, so won't be visiting the rest of the lakes on this hike, but we have seen them all before from the other side.

After a very satisfying lunch, I decide it's time for a swim. Kyra and I jump in the lake and hang out for a bit. It's cold, but very refreshing.  We stir up huge clouds of silt from the bottom of the lake as our feet try to get purchase on the slippery bottom.

Kyra even gets in a bit of gymnastics on our lunch rock. One of these hikes I'm going to convince Jeannie or Lucas to jump in with me, but they are content to sit on the rocks next to the lake. It's a perfect day and a beautiful place to relax, but we know we've got a bit of work ahead of us to get back out.

Surprisingly, we haven't seen anyone else on the trail since Lake Laura, though I expect the lower Rampart Lakes have more people. It is a weekday, which probably explains the low turnout. We slowly trudge the 400' back up to the trail's high point, but it's not as long as I feared - the views help! I find a tarn just off the trail that is a beautiful setting - see the picture at the top of the post. We've had enough of a workout and bag any plans to summit Rampart Ridge on this trip.

We encounter a couple of groups heading the other direction, including one couple with overnight packs heading up the steep section next to Lake Lillian. It's very hazardous going down, and I wish I had my trekking poles with me. We stop very briefly at Lake Lillian to catch our breath. There are several nice campsites around the lake here, and I will be returning one day to reach Gold Lake on the other side of Rampart Ridge. The bugs are fierce near the lake, and we slather on some DEET to try and fend them off, but at this point it's probably too late.

We hustle our way back down the steep trail, tryng to stay ahead of the bugs, and stopping to refill our water bottles at the giant waterfall below Lake Laura. The shade of the forest is welcome as we make our way back down Rocky Run, and we reach the car about six hours after we left. This has been a fun adventure, and a challenging first hike of the season. To hike under five miles and visit three gorgeous lakes is quite a treat, but if the road gets any more overgrown, I will probably skip this trail to preserve my car's paint job!

Stats

Time: 6 hours

Distance: 4.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 2200'

Alpine Lakes Mission

Lakes visited: Laura, Lillian, Rampart

Total lakes: 3

Percent complete: 1%

Photos and Videos

View the album on Google Photos.