What a gorgeous day to be in the mountains! I only had about three and a half hours today for hiking, and the Rampart Ridge Backdoor fit the bill! I originally planned to take the backdoor trail up past Twin Lakes and then summit Mount Margaret, but the deep snow and difficulty following the trail made progress slow. Consequently, I ended up just visiting the three closest lakes instead.
ROAD: There is no snow on the road to the backdoor trailhead. The potholes are getting pretty deep in places, along with a few big ruts. I didn't have any problem with my Subaru, but this road is pretty quickly becoming impassable to normal vehicles. The brush on the sides is getting a bit bad, so as usual this isn't a road to drive if you care about your car's paint job. There was only one other car at the TH when I arrived at 8:30, and four other cars when I returned just after noon. The main road (4832) is in excellent shape, though it's getting a lot of washboard.
PEOPLE: I was surprised how many people were hiking this trail today. I saw four groups of two, plus one solo hiker who started before I did. I did see several other cars on the main road before and after my hike, so I'd imagine the regular Mount Margaret Trail saw some activity today too.
BACKDOOR TRAIL: The brush tunnel at the bottom is getting pretty low after the recent snowstorm, but it was better later in the day after drying off a bit. I keep forgetting to bring pruning tools here - they would really help on the lower part. The trail up to Lake Laura is mostly snow-free right now, except for. Past the Lake Laura turnoff, the snow gets deeper, but isn't really a problem except in the more open areas. I'd definitely recommend spikes, but if you have decent boots, you can probably make it up to Lillian in the current snow conditions.
TWIN LAKES: Upon reaching the main Lake Lillian trail, I took a right to head over to Twin Lakes. I was the only person that had been this way since the snows - the only tracks I saw were animal tracks. Crossing the talus field was slightly annoying and it was hard to find the trail, but I eventually figured it out. You have to sort of contour down to the right before heading back up a bit on the other side. The trail wasn't too hard to follow in most places, but I lost it once and wasted about 15 minutes. There is a spot where the trail appears to continue straight between some small fir trees, but it actually takes a sharp right turn here. If you go straight you end up in some very steep sidehilling terrain, when in fact you want to descend about 100' down to the area of a small pond. Anyway, I put a few sticks across the wrong path - be on the lookout!
Once you're down in the meadowy areas near Twin Lakes, you can see the trail as an indentation in the snow. On the way to the lakes, I went through the avalanche debris from a couple years ago, but it was hard to tell if I was on the trail as I still had to climb over a few logs. On the way back I took the easier route past the small pond and down a gully. Twin Lakes is very pretty right now, especially in the sunshine. The lakes are mostly covered by slushy snow but you can certainly get water there if you need to. I didn't go past Twin Lakes toward Mount Margaret, as I am not as familiar with the trail in that area.
LAKE LILLIAN: The trail from the backdoor junction up to Lake Lillian has some snow in the open areas, but it's not too bad in general. The lake itself is snow-free, but there is a layer of about 6-8" of snow all around the lake. If you want to carry on to Rampart Ridge, I'd suggest taking the alternate trail that goes around the right side of the cliffs south of the lake, rather than the normal rock scramble right next to the lake. I did actually make it across the rock scramble using my spikes and poles, but it was pretty dicey. The snow and the lake is soft, but with a somewhat firm crust on top. Fortunately, this provided pretty good traction on top of the rock. I got some nice views on the hill above the lake, and took the alternate trail back down. I heard some voices up toward Rampart, and saw some tracks leading that way, so some brave souls were heading up there. I would have liked to head up myself, but didn't have time. I would probably recommend an ice axe at this point if you choose to go that way.
LAKE LAURA: I visited Lake Laura on the way out. The snow is somewhat deep all along the trail to the lake, about 6-8". The lake is very pretty right now with a layer of slushy snow covering about half of it. It's a bit wet getting down there, but only takes a few minutes each way off the main trail. If you haven't been there before, you might have a hard time following the snow-covered trail. You want to take a sharp left when you get through the small trees about 100' down the trail. After that you're following an obvious gully down to the lake.
GEAR: I'd recommend spikes and gaiters for these areas right now. I used my spikes, but was lazy and didn't put my gaiters on. As a result, my socks and boots were pretty soaked by the time I finished my hike.
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