Hidden Lake Lookout — Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

This hike nearly killed me. In the end, I did 15.5 miles and 5500 elevation. In the end, I would absolutely not do this again. 

Let me start at the beginning. 

The directions are not helpful. The sign that is said to mark the road is gone. The road itself was one of the worst we've taken. Many cars had given up and were just abandoned on the side of the path. At the trail head, someone was leaving notes on all the cars saying the car had hit him and he was going to call the police and the feds and report them. It was a huge insurance scam and totally insane. I hope no one fell for it. 

The trail itself starts off in the forest. Lots of shade. We saw some frogs! At the start of mile 2, you're exposed. It will be bright sun for the rest of the hike. There were a couple of stream crossings, but nothing worth noting. It was dry, it was dusty, it was steep. There were millions of bugs everywhere. I didn't find it very enjoyable. Switch back upon switch back. The people a mile ahead were still visible, and because of physics, the sound from their conversations carried all the way down the mountain. Please don't do that. Don't be the super loud ones on hikes. 

At mile three, the trail changes again. For the next mile, it is relatively flat and lovely. For me, this was the only enjoyable part of the hike. Beautiful views, nice terrain, and some flowers. I will note that in this area, people forgot about hiking manners. Lots and lots of people who had decided to sit down and take a break in the absolute middle of the trail. It was nearly impossible to get by two groups. Taking a break is awesome! Please be aware of other hikers, though. 

Mile four is when things got bad. It is back to a steady incline and dust. You are doing some light scrambles in places, but the worst part is that this is where the trail disappears. I want to start by saying this was one of the busiest hikes I did this year. Well over 100 people, which was unexpected considering I selected a time I knew would be less busy, and it was hard to get to. Three dogs as well. Back to the hike. With all of those hikers, you would think the trail would have been easy to follow. That simply wasn't the case. 

There were people with All Trails trying to locate the path. People with printed copies of the WTA who were lost. There were folks climbing higher to see if they could see anything. There were so many cairns that led to false trails. One person took out a drone and flew it up to try to get the path back. One team had walkie-talkies and was trying to establish where the heck to go. There was zero trail. To get to the lookout, you were free climbing and yes, it was terrifying. I absolutely hate scrambles and this was the worst one I had done. People at the top were laughing about how bad it had been. The lookout was occupied by two lovely women and their dog who said it had been empty when they arrived at 1. 

On the other side, the lake, was just as bad. We did not run into a single group that made it to the lake. There were simply no trails. 

I love a good hike but this was awful. For their being so many hikers, I am surprised by how hard the route finding was. Lots of injuries. Lots of people giving up. I would not do this again.