Not being a serious hiker, I was pretty intimidated by the concept of doing a long, somewhat steep hike like the Lakes Trail. But I wanted the views and the challenge and knew that I could always stop or turn around, so I agreed to go for it - and boy am I glad that I did! It was nice that the trail itself was not very busy because it was a weekday, but we did see maybe 5 other groups of people hiking. It did stress me out a bit since I'm slow and had to let people pass me, but I had to get over that and it was only a few people so it was not a big deal.
I wouldn't say that the trail is too crazy challenging (7 miles each way and 3,759 elevation gain). It's somewhat of a constant incline the entire way up but nothing that I couldn't handle if I went at my nice, slow (~30 minute a mile) pace. We did this on the third day of our trip, so fortunately I didn't have to battle altitude (headaches and nausea) the same way that I had to the first two days. I also drank close to 4 liters of water, which is definitely double what most people probably need for this hike.
The views are nothing short of stunning. The watchtower is unreal, and the view of Heather Lake is unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Definitely worth it! For the serious hiker, this is probably pretty easy (there was a guy doing it in sandals who went right by us, got to the end of the trail, turned around and came back before we even got to the end of it) but still very satisfying. Highly recommend! read more