We did a quick overnight at Silver Lake, leaving the Monte Cristo trailhead at about 4:00 PM on Friday. We were able to get a parking spot although there were a handful of cars on the side of the road too. Nothing to remark about the Monte Cristo trail (this is an excellent day hike/walk by the way, especially if you like history), other than it looks like there will be lots of thimble berries (my favorite!) ripe by this or next weekend. But sadly none were ready when we were hiking.
Once through Monte Cristo, we began the climb to the lake. The trail was forested and mostly shady. There were several blowdowns - we counted 5 in the "this is super annoying" category, which for me means they required bushwhacking, some sketchy maneuver, or taking off my backpack, but several other somewhat annoying ones too. The last .5 miles is especially steep up Poodle Dog Pass, and views of the nearby peaks are gorgeous.
After the climbing ends, the trail splits off to continue to Twin Lakes or down to Silver Lake. This took us about 3 hours total, but we were moving at a faster pace than I prefer, to avoid rushing setting up camp. There is also a short trail to a well-maintained privy at this junction.
We descended down to the lake, there are campsites on both sides. We explored the area but eventually opted going all the way to the left side of the lake (left if you're facing the lake from the trail) to the last campsite, with a beautiful view overlooking the area. Most of the campsites were on soft grass. A couple were right on the lake, a few were above with trails down to the lake for water. Lots of birds and pikas in the area - very sweet sounds to wake up to in the morning. To the left, up on the little ridge above the lake, there is a 2nd privy. You access it via a trail off of one of the campsites overlooking the lake, but the sign for it has tipped over. Though it has a beautiful view, the privy's seat is rotting - better than no privy though.
Ok and last - the bug update. Bugs were incredibly annoying once at the lake - like trying-to-get-inside-my-eyeballs-constantly level of annoying. Fortunately on the hike in they weren't very present, minus some flies toward the end. But at the lake they were relentless. Even so though, I walked away with less than 10 bites. It just impacted my ability to sit and enjoy the beautiful views. Given that they weren't biting a ton this would have actually been a good place to have a head net (this hike is honestly inspiring me to get one). Waiting a couple of weeks for the bugs to drop from their peak levels (there is still some snow on the other side of the lake melting) OR picking a day where some light wind and/or rain is expected OR bringing a net + bug spray + lots of patience is the way to do it.
That all said, we loved this trip and would definitely do it again. Have fun out there!
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