Lakes Trail, South Coldwater Trail — Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020

Beautiful hike for a sunny day! This report is for the loop around the lake, going counterclockwise. Starting from the Lakes Trail parking lot, we headed back to the main road and walked about 1 mi east to the South Coldwater trailhead. The trail gains some elevation, and up on the ridge there are gorgeous views of the surrounding peaks. At this point, the trail was completed covered with snow. The first ~1.5 miles of the snowy section was pretty well trodden.  As the snow got deeper, fewer people had passed before and the packed down track got very narrow and was slow going.  Luckily someone had come before us and marked pretty clear tracks, otherwise we would have turned back (to make the loop, keep to the left at various marked and unmarked branch off points).  There were quite a few obstacles to go over/under as you get to the north end of the South Coldwater trail, approaching the switchbacks. We managed the hike with yak tracks, but snowshoes would have been nice in a few areas. The Lakes trail is flat and easy, a nice break after struggling through the snow.  While it was flooded in a few spots, it was all passable with waterproof shoes.  Overall, beautiful but strenuous day.