We spent three nights in the Alpine Lakes wilderness with great trail conditions, mildly annoying bugs, and a lake pretty much to ourselves even over the weekend.
We didn’t get to the trailhead until 5pm on Thursday. We had heard that it would be overwhelmed but I think people focus on getting there so early that there were plenty of parking spots right at the trailhead (but clearly it had been crowded earlier with day-hikers as there were cars parked more than a quarter of a mile from the trailhead). The road into the trail is passable by all vehicles.
The trail up to Talapus Lake is a nice little workout with excellent trail conditions. We only saw a few people on the trail at this hour and everyone was wearing a mask and would let you pass with some distance (which would change on the way back). We skipped right past the lake here (there did appear to be some campsites free) and headed up to Olallie. The trail up here didn’t match the GPS on Gaia but was obvious and straight-forward. The sites around the lake don’t appear to quite match up with the posted map either. We just missed a site on the lake but found a great site by the outlet. The site here had only minor amounts of bugs.
In the morning a large group ended up stopping for a long chatty break within 15 feet of our site which was odd as there was plenty of space for them to move out. We enjoyed a slow morning and then got on the trail to head out. We were debating between Lower Tuscohatchie Lake, Island, or Rainbow, but in talking with a few people on the trail (who were still all wearing masks) it seemed like everyone was heading up towards Pratt and that direction so we opted for Rainbow. The trail up to Rainbow was beautiful and the crowds thinned out dramatically. We went to Rainbow first at around 1pm on Friday and there was no one there. We plopped our gear down at a gorgeous (albeit sunny with little shade) spot right on the shore. We then walked over to Island to see if that was a better spot for camping. We got there and it was certainly more alpine looking and pretty but it was super crowded. It did have an amazing pit toilet spot though with some limited cell service if you need that. We opted to keep our spot at Rainbow and stayed there for two nights. In two nights we only had one other group on the lake at the four sites there.
Rainbow is far sunnier but we managed to rotate ourselves around a tree to stay in the shade. The lake was brisk but great for swimming. The sites along this lake are all multi-part sites and we had a weird incident where hikers came in through our tent area and then stood in the middle of our camp kitchen on the lake shore where we had clothes on rocks and what not. We were seated in the shade around the corner and they announced that they would be camping here literally in our campsite. We politely told them we were camping here and that there were some great sites down the lake that would allow us to be distant. They responded that they saw our tent up at the other half of the site (12 feet away) and that since we weren’t currently sitting out the rocks our clothes were drying on that they would sit there and it would be their site. It was one of the weirdest backpacking moments I’ve ever had. After a few awkward back and forth bits of conversation they left. Come on people, just give each other space and be polite.
Saturday we did a little day hike to Mason Lake which was a fun little side trip. The trail up there was empty (side note, there’s a great little camp site at the Eastern edge of Sir Richard Pond) and a nice change of scenery with a great boulder cave on the way up. The lake was gorgeous but on a Saturday it was super crowded, loud, and had a rowdy crowd with almost no mask use. We spent a few minutes awkwardly dodging the crowds and then headed back to Rainbow. The weather was hot during the day and cool at night except for Saturday night where a warm front passed and we could sit out in a tshirt under the stars. It was a memory I’ll treasure and why the Alpine Lakes is so wonderful.
Sunday we headed down; the elevation drop was nice and steady and kind to my knees. Once we passed the turn off to Pratt Lake on the way back though mask usage went from maybe 95% to 40%. My favorites were the many people who had masks on but under their chin and would just walk by you. I don’t quite get that one. It was crowded and we had lots of stops to step aside and let the day-trippers pass. We even saw a guy smoking at Talapus who through his butt on the ground. Lots of trash on the ground too and it just made me sad.
The ranger was camped out at Island the whole time and was super helpful and present. The trip overall was great and even on a sunny warm weekend there were plenty of opportunities for solitude and great sites if you were careful and strayed from the obvious spots.
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