The Pacific Crest Trail runs 7.6 miles through old growth forests, high peaks and across the dizzying Kendall Katwalk to a high camp between Gravel and Ridge Lakes. The lakes are achievable in a long day but more comfortably reached as an overnight, and are often the first leg of a popular multi-day trip past Chikamin Peak to Spectacle Lake.

Ridge Lake is located in a thin forest near treeline along the Pacific Crest Trail

Views from the Pacific Crest Trail en route to Gravel and Ridge Lakes

Small cascades drop through the rocky slopes above the Pacific Crest Trail

The forest opens to alpine meadows on the final approach to Ridge and Gravel lakes

Walking along Kendall Katwalk, a narrow, vertigo-inducing path etched in a steep granite cliff

Kendall Katwalk - a narrow path cut into the steep granite cliff face

Fall colors emerge in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

The Pacific Crest Trail runs 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada via 3 US states: CA, OR and WA

On the Pacific Crest Trail - nature has a way of taking back