I hiked this from Summit Lake to Echo Lake. The first mile is a slog uphill, but then you have a beautiful crest walk then down hill to the lake. The forest here is gorgeous, and the lake is very pretty. It was also quite warm in August, you could easily swim in it, though I don’t know how deep it is. This is a very heavily traveled trail. I must have seen 100 people on it. There was 3 large groups of backpackers(15+ in each group, plus dozens of small groups of day hikers and backpackers). That is the only reason why I mark it down a star, you are traveling with a crowd. If you went further out, it would get sparser and sparser though. A great hike overall.
