[ALW Hiker]

Three of us spent two nights camped at Lower Tuscohatchie Lake, hitting Little Pratt Lake on the way in via Talapus and Olallie. The second day we hiked up to Windy and Kaleetan Lakes, clearing debris off the trail as we went. We then bushwhacked and scrambled our way to Ice and Frozen Lakes and under Kaleetan's impressive west face back to Windy Lake. It was a long 13 hours in total, with about 6 hours off trail. This was our first visit to Kaleetan Lake. I was expecting the trail to be brushy and in poor condition, given the dearth of trip reports, but it's actually a very well-constructed enjoyable trail. The second-growth woods toward Windy Lake are somewhat monotonous, but the incredibly steep slopes, deep gullies, and quite large trees make for some interesting scenery. We spied a flag and a side trail in the expected location that probably leads to My Lake - I went partway to this lake from Melakwa last year, via talus.

Waking up at Lower Tuscohatchie

Into the unknown

Forest trail descending to the Pratt River

Pratt River ford

Sketchy waterfall-spanning log option (no thank you!)

More nice trail approaching Windy Lake

Windy Lake covered in pollen

Kaleetan Lake was buggy and smelly at the outlet. We found three large piles of what we believe were bear scat, along with bear prints in the snow and on the game paths up to Ice Lake. It seems the bear was on the same mission that we were! To get to Ice Lake, we crossed the outlet logjam and bushwhacked flat terrain a bit off the north side of Kaleetan Lake, before angling up steep duff and some rock at the NE end. We angled under some cool cliffs on a distinct game path that led us to the top, following bear tracks and hoof prints. Ice Lake is breathtaking, and well worth the 90 minutes it took us to reach. Looking at the map I was expecting a glorified pond, but it's a really pretty lake surrounded by in-your-face views of Roosevelt and Kaleetan.

Kaleetan Lake

Bear sign?

Marsh meandering

Log highways

Following the game trail under cliffs

Ice Lake and Roosevelt

Ice Lake and Kaleetan

Me falling through snow at the water's edge - that's one way to bag the lake!

Ice Lake and Roosevelt

Frozen Lake is just a short stroll up from Ice Lake - cross the outlet and head SE. Frozen is definitely more of a pond than Ice Lake. I managed to put my boots in the lake on this one along with at Ice Lake, LOL. We waffled on returning the way we came, vs. pressing forward and making a loop. Given the favorable snow conditions, we decided to press on and complete the loop around the south side of Kaleetan Lake. Our aim was to reach the ridge separating Kaleetan and Windy, then follow that ridge back down to the trail next to Windy Lake. This was a very scenic and alpine leg of the hike, so despite some really challenging terrain, and the 3-hour time back to Windy Lake, it was totally worth it.

Frozen Lake

Frozen Lake

Looking up to Kaleetan

Kaleetan west face

Kaleetan west face

Easy snowfields with a view

Snow, rocks, and water

More climbing

Kaleetan Lake far below

Lake 4895

Ascending to the ridge and point 5000

Views from point 5000 - Chair Peak makes an appearance

Descending boulders to Windy Lake after getting cliffed out on the ridge

Back at Lower Tusco camp at 9:30 PM

[Backpacker Joe]

Really great pics and report. Thanks for posting. I have to live thru you guys and your reports these days. I appreciate them.