[jaysway]

I've had my sights on these lakes for a long time, but they had fallen down in my to-do list over time after hearing lots of reports on how crowded and rowdy the area has become. If you search for trip reports for these lakes on this site you can find some colorful reports going back many years, in fact I found a report from 2006 that mentioned these lakes had a reputation for being overrun. With mixed expectations, I decided it was finally time to check this place out. I figured that if the place was absolutely packed hopefully I could camp a little ways away from the lakes to get some solitude. Surprisingly, the place wasn't crowded at all on a Saturday night! Either we got lucky or the crowds are overblown . Trailhead to Robin Lakes We arrived at the trailhead at 8am on a Saturday morning and barely managed to get a spot. I've done Jade/Dip Top twice, so the first few miles of the trail to Hyas and beyond were familiar. Getting to the turnoff to Tuck and Robin is quick and uneventful, but shortly after the trail gets steeper with plenty of loose dirt and rock to climb over. We took a short lunch break at Tuck before proceeding up to Robin. There are plenty of little scrambly bits of trail for the first few hundred feet of elevation gain past Tuck.

Upon getting to Robin Lakes I figured we might be fighting to find a spot, but most spots were empty. We ended up setting our tent up on a granite slab in between the upper and lower lakes with a great view of the lower lake. The bugs were horrible, but this was not a surprise given recent trip reports. Trico My partner rested and took a nap while I hiked to Trico. I didn't run into any hikers on the trail but did spot a group camping down by the potholes. While I'm sure that many people hiking to Robin Lakes don't know about Trico, I was still surprised to not run into other hikers on a Saturday afternoon on a clear August weekend.

Sunset After getting back from Trico I rested for a while before we made dinner. The day had been mostly clear, but as sunset approached a few wispy clouds started building up which ended up making for some fantastic photography conditions. By sunset I was surprised that there weren't more groups camping at Robin given how much I had read about crowds. I did a decent amount of exploring around the lakes, and I counted 7 groups including ours plus that group over by the potholes. While it's possible I missed a group or two, the groups were fairly spread out and the place didn't feel crowded in the slightest.

I didn't bother doing any stacking so this one is pretty noisy

Granite I woke up around 4:30am to hike up to Granite for sunrise. As I was getting ready in the tent I heard a strange cry/laugh noise coming from outside, and after getting out of my tent with my headlamp I realized that there was a mother and child goat about 50 feet beyond the tent! They were just off the trail to Granite, so I gave them a wide berth as I headed up. The views from Granite at sunrise were fantastic. Technically, my sunrise shots are from Granite's false summit. I figured that the views from the false summit would be better than the true summit since you can see Robin Lakes from the false summit.

After sunrise and breakfast I headed up to the true summit. The views here were great too, but I the views from the false summit were indeed better. If I came back here with more time I would love to explore the South Granite area as well as the tarns to the NE.

Heading down, I looped around Upper Robin Lake. I much preferred this trail segment compared to the one I came up as this one featured some lovely subalpine meadows and granite perches with great views across the upper lake towards the lower lakes and Daniel. I did not see any other people until I got back to camp.

Oddly, out of all the photos I took this trip this one is my favorite:

There is something magical to me about the layers here of granite lakes with the Alpine Lakes peaks behind them and then Rainier poking out behind everything. Robin Lakes back to the trailhead The hike down was uneventful. Even if we expended less energy, the hike down was tough on the knees and feet and I was properly sore by the time we got back to the trailhead. We stopped at Basecamp, one of my all-time favorite coffee shops, for a late lunch on the drive back.

[Bootpathguy]

I've done 4 or 5 trips up there. Never crowded. I suppose in your case, heat may have had something to do with it

[Bosterson]

[thunderhead]

[jaysway]

[Backpacker Joe]

Well done. Great pics. THanks for posting.

[Alisse]

Ha! I love it. Over the same days (Aug. 6-7) I did a sort of extended Paddy-Go-Easy high traverse starting from the north Scatter Creek trail and worked my way north and then out from Robin/Tuck Lakes. I was intending to add on Trico on the north side, but by that time, I just wanted out of there... The bugs were indeed so very bad. I was dreaming of a sweet open bivy at 6500' with a nice breeze on my face, but instead suffered all night with skeeters that just wouldn't go to bed! However... the sunset was incredible. Here is a very similar photo to one you posted -- but this one is from the top of "Paddy Go North" peak just NW of Paddy-Go-Easy Pass. (I did a bit of construction work so there's now a tiny crappy bivy spot on the summit.)

[jaysway]

Alisse thanks for sharing! I love seeing pictures of what that sunset looked like from a nearby spot. That sounds like a really cool traverse. The series of granite basins, tarns, peaks from Trico to Granite are unbelievable if you like that sort of terrain and while I was only up there for a night, looking south from Granite it looked like there was tons more of that terrain to check out. How difficult was the traverse, anything beyond Class 3 if you picked your route well? A really neat but ambitious route would be going up Paddy-Go-Easy Pass and traversing all the way to Thunder Mountain Lakes and then either doing a thru hike and end at Stevens Pass or loop back on the PCT.

[Alisse]

Some friends of mine had done this and recommended it: https://fastestknowntime.com/route/paddy-go-easysherpanigranite-traverse-wa From Scatter Creek trail to Sherpani, I was able to stay basically on the crest and get several little mini-summits without anything over third class, like you said. At Sherpani (day two), I tried this stay-on-crest strategy and it didn't work out well -- I then looked at the FKT GPX and saw that this person had dropped down and off the crest from Sherpani.. by that time I just wanted out, sadly, due to skeeters. So I didn't summit Sherpani or Granite South. From the trailhead to Sprite Lake saw 0 people, saw a couple of people probably on death's doorstep from the bugs at Sprite Lake, then only saw people once at Granite (north). Wasted some time on all the social trails around Robin and Tuck lakes... I met a thirteen year old and his dad on the way up to Robin Lakes who had driven out from Ohio to go backpacking in Washington for two weeks -- it was their first real backpacking trip heading up there 😳 I was like..wow! This is not an easy trail! I was super excited for them. No hills like these in Ohio... I'll have to look at a map to see the route you're suggesting! So fun to have such easy cross-country travel in that area.

[jaysway]

Thanks for sharing the route beta! Just for fun, I was thinking about comparisons to myself between Tuck/Robin and the Enchantments. This area would probably be my top recommendation for someone looking for a place to hike that feels very similar to the Enchantments. Each place is different, but I wouldn't say that Tuck/Robin is any less scenic. Pros of the Enchantments:

• Fewer people camping due to permits
• Larch trees during the fall
• Better peakbagging
• More beautiful lakes (such as Colchuck, Leprechaun)
• Jagged peaks like Dragontail, Stuart, McClellan

Pros of Tuck/Robin and the surrounding area:

• No permits for camping
• Way fewer total people (the trail was not crowded at all, and there were very few day hikers)
• More scenic tarns
• Better mountain views (the east side of Daniel is insane and you get views of it from so many spots up high)
• More options for off-trail exploration

[Bowregard]

I missed this one while in Canada - Looks like a great trip and the photos are beautiful. Like you I have stayed away because of the reports of overcrowding but I may have to reconsider. Never been to Tuck & Robin myself but in late June of 2019 I suggested it to my daughters since it was an early thaw year and I suspected it would not be crowded yet. It turned out to be good timing though crossing the creek in the car was a bit sketchy and there was ice still on Robin.

[jaysway]