[MooseAndSquirrel]

I had never been up to Silver Lake on either the old or new trail #708 out of Monte Cristo so decided this pleasant Fall Thursday was the time to finally do it. To save 8 mi RT I rode a mtn. bike from Barlow Pass to the old townsite & parked at a bike rack there. The mountain scenery is grand from the old town & keeps getting better as you near the pass. The new trail begins further into the townsite near Sunday Falls & climbs roughly parallel with Sunday Creek on its eastern side- eventually joining up approx. where the older trail on the western side was. The new tread is well-graded & constructed, and especially nearer the pass you can see how much of the route has been better graded and switchbacks have been added compared to the old historical trail. The first half of the trail is in forest but then you begin to get great views of the magnificent area- Wilman Pks & Columbia Pk. across 76 Gulch especially dominate. Fall colors are out too- lots of vine maple and huckleberry. At Poodle Dog Pass you have the choice of going left towards Twin Lks. (another 2.7 mi) or continuing straight ahead down to Silver Lk. in a 1/3 mi. You pass several nice little tarns and meadows full of color as the trail winds down to the lake- a very clear blue-green under the immense slopes of Silvertip Pk. I had the whole place to myself and passed one party on the trail that day when heading back down. Definitely will be back to check out Twin Lakes, the scenery is supposed to be even better that way-hard to believe! Not sure about trail mileage on the new one but the older one was 1.7 mi to the pass with 1600' gain.

[Backpacker Joe]

Ugh, bummer. I wish that you could have gone past to Twins. That is where the REAL beauty lies..... TB