Despite numerous warnings from the locals, we decided to hike into the Lower Echo Lake area over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in the middle of the night. Thankfully we were guided by a bright moon and starry night.
We took the Pacific Crest Trail to Upper Echo Lake where we found a great cabin with a fantastic view of a moonlit lake. That prompted us to commandeer a cabin deck and "rough-it" as we slept under the moon the first night there.
On the second day we continued on the Pacific Crest Trail towards Tamarack Lake and Aloha Lake. Here we are overlooking Tamarack Lake in the foreground (it's frozen) and Upper Echo Lake in the background.
We also made a couple of friends that weekend -- Jake and Zack -- who own a cabin at Upper Echo Lake. They had warned us about an impending storm -- but we were confident it wouldn't hit until we left. We were wrong. At least we didn't become another lost in the wilderness story.