Two old guys and a dog set out for a two-night stay at Silver Lake, planning to dayhike out to Buckskin Lake on Day 2. Hart's Pass Road is rough and the continuation to the trailhead past Hart's Pass was even worse, but we made it in a minivan and a Tesla so most any vehicle should be fine if you take it slow and are respectful of the road condition.
We had a stunningly warm and clear day to enjoy the fantastic views on the way to the lake, down the valley of the Middle Fork Pasayten River, across to Robinson Peak, along the extended ridge, and countless peaks and ridges beyond into the depth of the Pasayten Wilderness. Wildflowers were in bloom with some patches exploding in color.
The trail is in great shape. I don't remember stepping over even a stick, but it is rocky and narrow in spots. And near the end, the route turns abruptly and steeply uphill to ascend Gold Ridge and then descend to the lake basin; a couple of switchbacks here would be helpful.
A few nice campsites flank the lake. We chose one with a clear view up the lake to the cirque behind. As I mentioned we were planning for two nights, but the throngs of mosquitoes convinced us to pack up and head out the next day. On each of the two days, we encountered a single pair of dayhikers and otherwise had the huge expanse of this portion of the Pasayten Wilderness to ourselves. The Hart's Pass Campground is closed, apparently indefinitely, so we holed up the second night at Meadows Campground, a mile west of Hart's Pass in the burn zone from a 2003 fire. A dense mass of noble fir saplings are growing fast, but the area is still pretty open and exposed except for two sites in clumps of trees that survived the fire.
This is a wonderful and shortish destination for an overnight hike and will be more pleasant later in the season when the initial burst of mosquitoes subsides or especially in the fall when the larches turn.
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