Despite there being large numbers of people at the trail head, we saw very few hikers on the way to Chester lake. The large group at the trail head veered off towards the Sawmill trails with promises from their leader of a lake 2 hours away. This suggested Headwall lakes but the group didn't look like they were used to hiking so we mentally wished them luck and set off on our own climb through the trees.
We took our time, lots of breaks for water to avoid getting too hot and reached the lake in 1 1/2 hours.



Approach to Chester Lake

A little snack then on up past the elephant rocks and the climb up into the 3-lakes valley.


First of the Three Lakes

Shortly after noon we stopped for lunch and were pleased to have a light breeze and temps around 24 to 25 - a real treat compared to what we had expected.
The views were wonderful. We guessed at the peaks' names since we had left the maps in the car.



Three Lakes Valley

We decided to forgo the last lake as we had the best of conditions right where we were. We skirted Chester on the return trip and found the tourist population had risen but surprisingly not that large.
On the way down we were told by one family (3 kids, mom, 2 dogs) that a bear had been seen around the parking lot but there was no sign when we got back. A great trip with temps much better than the 32 that hit us when we got back to the city. Participants Dave, Marilyn, Emily and scribe Dorothy-Ann.