Date: July 17-18, 2020
Location: Upper Cataract Lake, Eagles Nest Wilderness
Distance: 12 miles
Elevation Change: 2600 feet up and 2600 back down
Group: The whole family (including the dog)
First, I will put in a plug for mosquito repellent (and actually using it). Our favorite is this stuff (no affiliate link). The little critters were out in force and while my family fared pretty well, I'm not so happy today (and didn't use the repellent until it was too late).
The trail starts off climbing and gets pretty steep in a few places. Just under 3 miles in, it passes Surprise Lake.
After that, it is more climbing, thought not as bad (little legs below may think otherwise...) till just a little before you drop down into the basin with Cat Lake and Upper Cataract Lake.
The fish loved the mosquitoes as much as we hated them and we ended up catching and releasing about 30 colorful brook trout as a family.
There was a brief afternoon storm that dumped a little rain. We crammed into one tent and played some cards to wait it out.
Temperatures were warm to just right for sleeping and we were back on the trail in the morning.
