Great run today, Matt and I went up Red Elephant, around the Empire Loop and up to Bill Moore Lake. Thanks for setting it up, Matt, it was fun.
We made a wrong turn not far from the start of Red Elephant, up a trail to the left over some large tree roots (incase anyone is familiar with the trail) onto an offcamber shelf that was too narrow for me to turn around so I backed down the whole way. I only hit two trees, both with my rear passenger fender flare, and picked up a new "participation trophy".
Red Elephant is a lot of rock crawling in the trees, no real views but a fun trail with constant rocks. I got no pics at all on it but I had a camera going that I have to review.
The Empire Loop was, IMO, more challenging and more fun than Red Elephant, which was pretty fun too.
The Empire Hilton looks occupied, but noone was there when we went in... probably. We both had the idea that someone was laying very still on the top bunk. Look at the pic; the bedding is pulled up like someone might be behind it, and the mattress is dipping down like there is weight on it. Probably not, but that place is creepy. And gross, even for a cabin. There are a few cabin ruins all around it, there must have been a community at some point. Someone did some pretty good bullet casing art on the Hilton, that's the last pic.
Bill Moore lake is beautiful, smaller than I expected and buggy. Absolutely worth seeing, and the loose hill climbs were a lot of fun in both directions. We saw the only other vehicle of the day here, a GC heading up that we backed up for. We also saw two hikers with a gorgeous dog, and a marmot crossed the road at the trailhead for Red Elephant. Good day.