Lake Laura Backdoor, Rampart Ridge Backdoor, Lake Lillian, Rampart Ridge - Rampart Lakes, Lila Lake & Alta Mountain — Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025

Today's objective was Alta Mountain. By using the Lake Laura Backdoor I was able to also hit Rampart Lakes, Lila Lake, Lake Lillian and the amazing high country around Rampart Ridge.

Hardest part of the hike is the road, so I'll start there. When you turn off the main forest road, you have to do 2 miles on a fairly rutted and potholed road. The challenge is that there's no space on either side to maneuver, both due to the brush, and because the downhill side has a drop-off. If you meet another car, you have to back up. The good news today is that someone has come through and cut back some of the brush. The unfortunate news is that the potholes are worse than they were last year. At this point you really need high clearance. 

The Lake Laura Backdoor is a little overgrown at the beginning right now, but that doesn't go on very long. The rest of the trail is a forest scramble, but nothing technical. It's a good taste of what's coming if you go up beyond Lake Lillian. Lake Lillian is stunning and would be a good objective in itself.

The Rampart Ridge Backdoor up from Lake Lillian was super dry today. It wasn't hard to climb, but it was challenging not to kick rocks down. After the initial climb the trail forks. I took the climber's right fork going up as it has a little less elevation gain and I wanted to save energy for Alta. This fork has beautiful views of the canyons below Rachel Lake. There were also a couple of wildflower meadows still going strong right before Rampart Lakes.

Rampart Lakes had more campers than I expected for a Wednesday. But there were still numerous campsites. Everyone seemed to be around the biggest of the lakes and not around the others. I think I saw a mosquito or two here, but it was the only place on the whole hike. There was a breeze though, so maybe they're still around and I just missed them?

From there I hiked over to Lila Lake (second photo), which is stunning and apparently no one was down there that I could see. Today this probably would have made a more solitary place to camp than Rampart Lakes. 

There's a trail up the shoulder of Alta Mountain from Lila Lake. I took that. There was a storm system moving in today, so once I was on the ridge it was quite breezy. As others have mentioned, there are multiple false summits. It seems like you're up, and then you see the next one. While nothing on the trail is super scrambly, there's a couple of exposed ridges with Angel's Landing vibes. Don't take your friend who is afraid of heights up this peak. 

Alta Mountain had some of the best views, both at the peak and heading up and down, that I've experienced this year. It's right up there with Kaleetan.

After winding back down and back through Rampart Lakes, I decided to go back on the Rampart Ridge side of the high country loop. From the lakes up this side is more of a boulder scramble. If I were overnighting with a heavier pack, I would probably stay on the canyon side of the loop instead. The Ridge side also gave me a nice view back down to what I'd hiked (4th photo). Since I'd been up on Alta, I skipped the summit of Rampart Ridge today.

The high side trail back from Rampart Ridge to Lake Lillian wanders through high alpine meadows and several pretty tarns. There were quite a few marmots here. (None of them would pose for a photo.)

Total mileage today was 11 miles and 3950' of elevation gain.