Hiked to Blue Lake from the Thomas Lake Trailhead for a mid-week overnight backpacking trip with a group of 5 women. It was a long drive down gravel forest service roads but they were in decent condition. Mid-week in the fall, there were only a few vehicles in the parking lot when we arrived mid-morning. The vault toilet was open but had no toilet paper. We saw very few people on the trail and very few people camped at Blue Lake. We found the campsites to be further apart from each other than it appeared they would be on the map. We initially chose a site near the lake but as the wind picked up, we decide to move to the group camp site (not labeled as such on the map but it's up a steep section of trail right after the PCT intersects with the Thomas Lake Trail). It was a little less windy there but still got pretty windy in the evening.
This was my first trip to this area. It made for a gentle backpacking trip as the elevation gain is minimal and gradual. The fall colors were stunning and we enjoyed the fact the there was another beautiful lake around every corner!
We set out to spend two nights but the weather for the second night and third day was going to be pretty miserable so we left after the first night. I'm looking forward to exploring these trails more in the future.
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