in August I attempted to reach Chiwaukum Lake via the Chiwaukum Creek trail. After pushing through head high brush with rattlesnakes, two encounters with rattlesnakes that (despite me waiting for several minutes each time) did not want to leave the trail so I had to bushwhack around them, and finally reaching the east fork trail to find a tangle of frustrating blowdown. I turned around 8 miles in, defeated. I then researched and was dismayed to learn that the forest service TURNED DOWN the offer from Mountain Club to keep the Lake Ethel trail functional with a new re-route so that trail was also closed. So, basically, these beautiful lakes are only accessible to those with a key to the gated FS road, or those willing to walk 9+ miles to the trailhead. I'm one of those hikers, yep. 9 mile road walk. 

After 3 long hours, 9 miles and 3200 elevation gain we reached the ridgetop trail that heads towards McCue Ridge trail. There are some annoyingly large blowdown en route to Lake Chiwaukum but not terrible. We set up camp near the junction with the now unmaintained east fork chiwaukum trail at a nice spot with water access and headed to Larch Lake. The trail has more annoying blowdown by the lake, but as you gain elevation into the meadows the trail is in good condition and easy to follow until the lake, where the trail disappears in the meadows. My partner set up his packraft for some fishing and I scrambled up the route to Cup Lake, which had a nice dusting of snow. Navigation skills recommendd to reach Cup Lake since the trail isn't present until the rise to the lake, and there it's faint and braided with some mild scrambling. 

I enjoyed rafting at Larch Lake after my visit to Cup, and as the sun went down it got quite cold so we headed back to camp. The next morning after some lovely rafting on the glasslike Chiwaukum, we packed up and headed uphill to reach the Scottish Lakes. I considered going directly up and over McWaukum pass, but decided to go with Max to Lake Julius first to avoid any complications with finding each other later. 

My partner settled in for some very successful (11 trout!) fishing at Lake Julius while I headed for the high country above. Loch Eileen has a few larches and nice trail to it. The trail to Lake Donald has a few scrambly steps, cairns, missing tread but I had no trouble navigating to the lake, which is ringed by sandy shores, cliffs and larches. I had a little time before my turnaround time, so I continued up the spectacular terrain on very faint bootpath towards McWaukum Pass (btw McCue Ridge and Middle Chiwaukum). A quick peek at my map showed that I was right below the summit of McCue Ridge, so I headed directly up a combo of meadow, slabs, scree and light snow to the summit. There are some cool rocks on the summit and lovely views of most of the lakes I visited on this trip. 

Hike out was uneventful, a helpful employee of High Camp working near Coulter Creek offered us a ride to the gate. This saved us an hour of walking out in the dark, so we were very thankful for his kindness. 

We stayed at Alpine Lakes High Camp October 12-15 and hiked from there.

We took the road from camp to McCue Ridge Trail (#1574) and then to Loch Eileen Trail (#1584A). Crossing Roaring Creek required going downstream a little from the trail where we could cross on a board/logs/rocks before rejoining the trail on the other side. We took a short break at Lake Julius while one of our group used the privy (follow signs for toilet) and then moved on the Loch Eileen. At Loch Eileen, we encountered a couple Forest Service rangers and gave us some tips on navigating to Lake Donald. There is also a privy at Loch Eileen. Seems usable but it's seen better days. We took a break on the shore of Loch Eileen to get some snacks before the final climb to Donald. The trail to Donald is ill-defined at times, but well marked with cairns. It's a short but steep stretch. We ran into the rangers again at Lake Donald. We were curious about the type of rock in the area. They let us know it was a type of metamorphic rock but didn't know the exact type (our host at High Camp told us later it is granite schist). We stopped again along the shore of Lake Donald and ate our lunch before heading back the way we came. We saw one couple with a dog but, besides them and the rangers, we had the trail to ourselves. 

Trail: pretty good overall, minor logs to step over, the creek crossing required a little searching find the right spot to cross without wet feet.

Snow: no snow

Bugs: some gnats but no mosquitos

Specs from Gaia: 7.95mi, 3hr 50min moving time, 1400ft

Smoke caught us at the last minute but we gave it a go anyway for a short overnight. Can't comment on the views though :( 

FYI that the Lake Ethel trailhead says the trail is closed for a portion and you must go around on logging roads. 

Trail is good shape to Lake Ethel, the majority of the blowdowns we encountered were between the turn off from the Lake Ethel trail on Roaring Creek until we turned off for Lake Julius. 

We continued on to Lake Donald which is more of a route but not hard to follow. There were not good campsites there and difficult access to water, so we came back to Loch Eileen where there was a nice comfy site and privy. Great night other than the smoke, had to get out of there asap in the morning. 

Don't have much to add to ALW hiker's comprehensive post from 8/16, other than to say that if you like larch and don't like lots of people, this is a perfect trail right now! A few updates:

- Ran to Lake Donald, stopping at Lake Ethel, Lake Julius, and Loch Eileen along the way, with a little bit of High Meadows roaming at Lake Donald. This is a pretty runnable trail, other than a few grunty bits (mostly on the way in). Total of 3 hours each way, including lots of time at each of the lakes along the way. 

- Not at all crowded and I had each lake to myself when I stopped. There were about 10 cars in the parking lot when I rolled in at 9 AM on a Sunday. Almost all parties were backpackers who I encountered coming out. Several folks said they were coming from Larch Lake / Chiwaukum rather than the Scottish Lakes themselves. 

- The larch and huckleberry are beautiful right now, mostly concentrated around Lake Donald and in the High Meadows.

Enjoy!

A group of six adults and one dog enjoyed a two-night backpacking trip, lucking out with absolutely fantastic late September weather. Camped at Lake Ethel with a Saturday day trip to Julius, Eileen, Donald and the High Meadows.  For a fall hike, Lake Donald and High Meadow are the real treat with absolutely stunning colors and not another human in sight.  High Meadow is an easy traverse along the ridge line immediately north of Lake Donald; you should be able to trace it on a topo map.  We followed the ridge about 1/2 mile to the pond and creek, opting to turn back based on other reports warning of tricky scrambles on the far side of Eileen.

All the trail details in the post by ALW Hiker are spot on, so no need repeating that great post.