Hiked the Thomas Lake Trail to the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail at Blue Lake.  No bugs and trail is in excellent condition.  I didn't see much in the way of colors, but the scenery was beautiful.  (I had tried back in early June and due to snow I only hiked about one mile in that trip).  I will try and be back in October to see the Fall colors.

Lovely late summer hike to Blue Lake. Few huckleberries left except at Rock Lake, but many Porcinis (King Boletus) along the well maintained trail. No mosquitos until Blue Lake, where there is a great camping and swimming spot at the south end of the lake, just off PCT junction. Tombstone Lake past Blue is a lot of up and down for a rather ordinary spot. Allow 5 hours for full hike.

Enjoyed a glorious in-and-out hike from the Thomas Lake trailhead to Rock Lake, Blue Lake, Tombstone Lake and back out. There were absolutely no mosquitoes the entire time. Not a one to be found! Trail was clear, well signed and easy to follow. Tons of cars at the trailhead but it never felt overly crowded. The gravel portion of Road 65 was rough in spots but passable for all (may want to slow down in spots, including one creek crossing that is eroded — take it slowly). The fall color was good but I believe will get better as September rolls on. When you get to the signs about 2 miles in that tell you to turn right for Blue Lake/PCT, be sure to go the 50 yards forward to see Rock Lake. It's a stunner.

Our hikes are limited these days by the distance my dog can go with degenerative joint disease, so our destination on this trail was Rock Lake, about 2.1 miles from the trailhead.

We drove to the trailhead using the Wind River Highway (FR 30) to FR 6507 to FR 65. This route limits the road surface to about 5 miles of mostly good gravel.

From the trailhead we hiked to Thomas Lake. We took the side trip to Eunice Lake before continuing on to Rock Lake.

A rain shower arrived just as we settled in for lunch on the lake shore. The rain clouds blew on through and we also had some sun breaks. We saw a family of Common Mergansers on Rock Lake, diving and feeding, before something spooked them and they flew off.

The Cascade Bilberries (Vaccinium deliciosum) were ripening while the Bog Blueberries (Vaccinium uliginosum) were still green.

We stopped at Backwoods Brewing in Carson for dinner during our drive home. #hikeathon

Tried to enjoy this hike today but only made it about 1 1/2 miles in before we turned around due to the mosquito factor — which was really bad and seemed to get worse as we went. From the trailhead they were immediately awful, even at midday at 90 degrees. I know, we were warned in the description, but still wanted to give it a go in excitement for all the beautiful lakes. To those considering hiking it during early/midsummer, a bugnet hat, DEET and thick, non-dark-colored clothing will be required. We'll be back later in the year probably as there were tons of huckleberries along the trail in bloom. 

Note: Google Maps will take you a more direct route up NF 65, which is rather washboardy and rough, though seemed to have been maintained by the 1/2 mile we drove it. The WTA directions are way out of the way but you'll only spend 5 miles off the pavement so it was worth it for our non 4x4.