Backpacking Virginia Lakes to Green Creek – Day 2 to West Lake

Nov 19, ’18 · by Denise · in On Adventures

In my experience from backpacking in the Hoover Wilderness, one of the worst times of year for mosquitoes usually falls right around the Forth of July. It happened in 2013 on Buckeye Pass, it happened again in 2016 at Crown Lake, and now again in 2018… Summit Lake wasn’t all that bad. But here is the real scoop: GREEN LAKE IS TERRIBLE.

But not as bad as Gilman Lake, definitely don’t go there.

The original plan for the day was to hike to Green Lake and set up camp early. But after evaluating the (mosquito) situation it was unanimous that we all continue the trek up to West Lake in hopes of loosing a little less blood.

Lording down over Green Lake, far from it’s hoards of Mosquitoes.

Independence Day 2018 Backpack – Day 2: Hoover Lakes, Gilman Lake, East Lake, Green Lake, & West Lake

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Looking for Day 1 – out from Virginia Lakes Trailhead? Click here.

Trailhead: This is day 2 out of the Virginia Lakes Trailhead, accessed from the paved Virginia Lakes Road (map). If you want to backpack directly to West Lake it would be quicker to head out from the Green Creek Trailhead from Green Creek Road (map), a passenger car friendly dirt road at low speeds.

Distance: 6.7 Miles from Summit Lake to West Lake. Overall our weekend distance was ~15.5 miles.

While hiking past lakes in the backcountry, I sometimes make a game of considering where I might stay next if I make a return trip. The trail between Summit Lake and West Lake had a number of them. Here are my abbreviated reviews:

Hoover Lakes

Hoover Lakes: Nice, although the rocky nature of the shoreline might mean issues finding camp spots. Is a favorite among marmots.

Gilman Lake

Gilman Lake: Mosquito hole of doom. We ran away from this lake.
Nutter Lake: Why is this little guy named?

East Lake

East Lake: This was our lunch break spot – found a nice rocky spot with a breeze to keep the bugs off some. I would plan a trip here when it is not mosquito season.

Green Lake

Green Lake: Beautiful, but closer to trailhead and more busy with dayhikers. The mosquitoes were worse then East Lake. Aside from that: What is up with the weird old-timey dam situation?

West Lake

West Lake: Mosquitoes at the treeline by the water, but it’s possible to find a spot with a breeze. This is an interesting looking lake, AND has (very shy) pikas – so it is probably the best choice. Also: This lake has an even weirder dam situation then Green Lake.

We finally decided to set up camp away from West Lake on the ridge. This was the best mosquito situation we could find up the Green Creek trial area. They did leave us alone until dark, so I will count this as a real win for 4th of July in the Hoover.