[H. Hound]

LK Williams, Chain LK’s 7-3-03 Fair warning, the last 12 miles of the Middle Fork road is bad (I know it’s duh statement). A light truck, or any 4wd will have no problem. It took me 1.5 hours to get to the trailhead from the truck stop. The trail is in good shape, although a little brushy in the first 2 miles. So expect to either get wet feet and legs, or try some waterproofing. There are 2 stream crossings, but they aren’t bad. If your waterproof boots held up this far, the streams won’t hurt them. There is extensive work still being done on the trail. New turnpikes are being built, and some restoration work is ongoing. About 100-200 yards before Lk Williams, a large avalanche has created a deep snowfield. It wasn’t hard to cross at this time, but as it melts out all of the down trees will be quite fun to get around. I think it is safe to say that short section of trail will need a lot of work. Williams is free of snow, but the Mosquitoes are out. I circled around the right shoreline, hoping across the rock garden, to the Adit (mine entrance) over looking the lake. The “trail” to chain lakes starts here (thanks 2drx). I lost the trail to Chain several times, but just headed straight up and found it again. The Chain lakes basin is still full of snow. 2drx said it would be, and was right. Ok, so I am impatient. I could only see one lake, and it was still mostly snowed over. What can I say, I will be back. I just got back in to hiking 2 seasons ago, and so far this was the most scenic hike I have been on yet. It was worth the 16 miles of kidney pounding just to get to the trailhead. The meadows, and peaks at Camp Pedro were great, but just a prelude of what was to come. Lake Williams is gorgeous, and I can’t wait to see Chain lakes after the snow melts. On the way out I saw my first bear. A black bear was walking down trail. After my heart slowed down I thought it was really cool. Next time I would rather be a little farther away than 30 feet. The only other time I have been that close to a bear was Huckleberry picking. I never saw that bear, but something big grunted, and ran away. Got my heart going that time too. Happy Trails - KN

ChainLk

Willi1

[-lol-]

[Backpacker Joe]

Great report. Get this place out of your system, as they are going to gate the road at Dingleford this coming fall. Dante and I want to get up there and do a high lakes route circumference this summer. That and a hike into Crawford are on the table! TB