Rachel Lake to Rampart Ridge

Micki, in the rain, on the trail up above Rachel Lake.

I never did exactly find the trail, but it was pretty obvious where we needed to go, so the dogs and I just started up.

At the top of the ridge directly above Rachel Lake I met two guys coming back from Lila Lake. When I told them of my plans to traverse to Spectacle Lake they seemed very skeptical. One guy said the other side of Alta Pass was a very, very steep drop. “Nothing I would want to do by myself, that's for sure,” he said.

Oh, great.  Just great.

The other guy said that there wasn't anything on the other side but cliff bands.

Swell.  Just swell. 

THIS is the frickin' route to Spectacle Lake?

Thank you, Fred Beckey!  He is always writing about all these routes that are too much for the average backpacker, but accessible to serious scramblers.

I sighed, looked again at the very serious faces on these two helpful guys, and quickly made another executive decision. I gave them C's home and work numbers and ask them to call her tomorrow when they got back to Bellevue. The message was that I was changing my pickup point to from Spectacle Lake to Rachel Lake.

“No need to have them call out the Boy Scouts or for me to have a fatal accident,” I observed.

They nodded in agreement and said they would make the phone calls. I sure hope they don't forget.

– Continue reading.