Has anyone used this campsite? We're planning on a four night trip next month, the likely plan being to hike the Rainbow Range trail and use McCauley Lake as a base, but we're considering the alternative of doing Crystal Lake and staying at Lester's either as a base or a stopover. I gather that Lester's gets a lot of use from horse packers which kind of reduces its appeal to hikers, especially in wet conditions, but can anyone tell me what it's like from experience?

If we camp at McCauley Lake, how much of a grunt would it be to hike cross-country from there to Crystal Lake and back in a day for a group of strong (if not fast) hikers?

This isn't a lot of help but the area has not been that busy when we have visited in the past. We only saw a handful of other people. I can't imagine any of the camps being busy. We only did the Rainbow Range trail.

Here is a sign that is posted at the trailhead.

Here is our TR from last fall. Moving cross-country varies from difficult down low (a tangle of deadfall from the forest fire,) to very easy as you get higher up. I haven't looked at the topo for the route you would take.
https://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topi...TOPIC_ID=41133

Yeah, we were there the beginning of September 2010 and that sign was brand new. The area had burned within a week before we were there; there was still some fire activity right along the highway just east of the park boundary, and significant plumes of smoke from across the north side of Anahim Lake. The Crystal and Octopus Lake trails were closed but Rainbow had been freshly cleared. Cross-country above the tree line (or more accurately the willow line) seems pretty straightforward as long as visibility is good, though some of those low ridges might be confusing so we'll need to brush up on our routefinding skills.

It was just before Labour Day weekend and we just saw two people at the trailhead who'd just come out, and two more people on a day hike. We did spot a few caribou way off on the ridge to the north, several marmots, not much bird life except for a few scaup and pintail on the lakes.

Just for the record in case someone reads this in the future. Lesters camp is a horse camp but sees very little traffic and is a decent place to camp. It has a bear cache, fire pit, hitchin' post, water nearby and a flat spot for a tent just above the valley.