Thornton Lakes & Trappers Peak

Did this as a day hike. We did both Trappers Peak and Thronton lake. We tracked almost 13 miles for both destinations. Generally, a well-kept path but there are some fallen trees you may need to climb over. Pretty muddy in some parts. It starts off pretty easy but it picks way up in steepness just before the halfway point. Saw lots of other folks on trail. The parking lot is small and there is a bathroom at the trailhead. The road to get there is SUPER bumpy in some areas. Can get there in a sedan but I recommend something with all-wheel drive for a smoother experience. 

Once we got to the fork, we decided to climb Trapper's peak first. It wasn't too bad, but it was definitely a scramble in some places where you need to use your hands to climbs rocks. Only a couple of very steep or near-vertical sections and they very short. No ropes needed, but you should be comfortable doing this type of stuff. There are some ledges up there can be unnerving if you really don't like hikes. There were some snow patches getting up there but nothing too hard to pass. No microspikes or crampons are needed. At the top there was plenty of snow, but make sure you stay towards the center. There are some pretty sketchy snow patches at the top that have nothing under them since they are melting out (you can see them when you go towards the west end of the peak). You can see Diablo at the top and a ton of other peaks and all three Thornton lakes. You don't even need to get to the top to get some pretty epic views (there are a couple of rest stops to take pictures). 

We hiked down to Thornton lake. Took us 45 minutes, but we are fairly quick. Trail was pretty muddy at points and has some steep includes going downhill. Water was VERY cold. We saw snow patches on it from Trapper Peak that melted by the time we got there and the upper two lakes were partially and totally frozen over still. We stayed there for a bit. Total hiking time for us (not including food breaks was about 5.5 hours.