I picked a perfect day for my first visit to Ancient Lakes, an area I'd wanted to visit for a long time. Not hot, not cold, not windy... blue skies and too early for rattlesnakes. (a local hiker I spoke with says he loves the area but stops for the season when the balsamroot blooms, because it's "too snakey.")
I parked at the Ancient Lakes TH and hiked to the upper waterfall without problem. It was very beautiful with snow adorning the distant hills. I lost the trail temporarily on the valley floor (there are many social trails and rocky bits where trails don't show), but found it again and hiked to the lower waterfall at Ancient Lake. I had hoped to hike around the north side of the lake and make a loop, but what was shown as a trail on my GPS base map was simply a very steep talus slope that I didn't care to traverse. I ate lunch and hiked back the way I came.
I then drove farther down the access road to Burke Lake and hiked on a trail that intersects the road just north of the toilet -- not sure it was the same trail described in the hiking guide. Hiked northwest to a couple of grand viewpoints -- looking north into Potholes Coulee and then south toward Dusty Lake. Backtracked a bit and found a trail heading north that skirted a basalt cliff, then turned east and climbed a short but steep slope through a saddle and back to the road. It made a lovely 3 mile loop.
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