We left the car Saturday morning around 9:00 am. BEWARE- there is stinging nettle at the very start of this trail, by the road. I have hiked this trail before and have brushed up against it :(
The trail all around is all in great condition. Only a few downed trees across the trail, but nothing too terrible. Having hiking poles really helped. Be ready for a steady uphill all of the way up to the Round Lake turn off. It's relentless. But totally worth it for the views! The turn off to Round Lake is unmarked, so keep your eyes out for it. Once you hit the meadows for the first time (after hiking through the forest), keep your eyes out for the turn off to Round Lake on the left side of the trail.
From Round Lake it is a consistent up and down all of the way to Camp Lake, where we stayed Saturday night. We got to Camp Lake around 4:00 pm. Beautiful views all around. We could see Mount Pugh and Mount Baker from our campsite. We did a quick scramble up to see Lake Byrne just to see it- another beautiful alpine lake!
It was a cold night Saturday night (frost on the tent rainfly!), but well worth it for the crisp views on Sunday. *Note*- no toilet at Camp Lake (at least not that we could find). So make sure to bring your trowel! Also, we found trash, some of it was burned, in a camp fire at our campsite. Reminder to all to Leave No Trace. Pack out what you packed in.
Happy trails!
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