The Rampart Ridge Back Door is one of my favorite areas to hike. Lots of great terrain if you have the energy to explore it. This trail shows no mercy. First you need to get up to the unofficial trail head which is up a rough narrow road. There are some good potholes up there so you will need high clearance. You also shouldn't be afraid of scratching the paint on you car. I had brush scraping on both sides of the car for most of the road. Once you get to the trail it takes you straight up the hill. The final climb out of Lake Lillian up the ridge is probably the worst of it with loose rocks and dust on the trail. I was talking to a ranger up there today an they mentioned that even though this trail isn't official and doesn't a permit box, you should be still be filling out the wilderness permit and turning it into to the closest real trail head. These show trail usage and help in the allocation of funds.
I wanted to check out Gold Lake because I was up for a challenge. There are no real trail to the lake, but I saw several routes with rough boot tracks to follow. I first went up to the high point the south end of The Ramparts. I was able to get a great view of Gold lake and Gold Creek Pond further below. From that high point I hiked directly south following some small trails leading to an opening into the Gold Lake area. There was a torn up boot track leading straight down this gap in the ridge towards the lake. Lots of loose soil that has been kicked down the hill from previous hikers so take it very slow. After following that down, you start traversing clockwise around Gold Lake eventually getting to a small ledge dropping you into the talus field leading towards the lake. This ledge is pretty sketchy so take is slow and make sure you've got several points of contact on the hill. I hope you aren't afraid of a little rock climbing. I followed the talus slope down and into the trees that lead to a patchwork of small trails and gullies leading to the shore of the lake.
The lake was great. Not many bugs and a few camp sites around. Judging by the lack of trail, not many people make it down to Gold Lake. I had the place to myself on a Friday afternoon. The lake has big shallow shores that heat up in the sun making for great swimming. I ended up swimming all the way around the lake enjoying my reward for a difficult descent to get there.
For my way out I took the more common route following a gully with a small trail to the SSE up to the ridge towards Lake Lillian. After you get over the ridge you have a patchwork of boot tracks going around either direction around Lake Lillian. I took a rough route counter clockwise around Lillian to get back to the main trail back to the trailhead. There may have been a better trail, but I was staying high to get some views over Lake Laura and the valley.
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