I thought this comment was somewhat harsh and dismissive - given how little wilderness there is, and how hard it is to get, dissing what we have seems counter-productive. Sullivan, on the other hand, describes the loop trail as gorgeous. Never having visited a wilderness area that we couldn't find to love in some way, we headed out to test the charms of the Mountain Lakes for ourselves. There are three THs into this wilderness - Varney Creek is the quickest way to the lakes, while Clover Creek is the shortest path to Aspen Butte.
The Clover Creek trail - some recent blowdown but otherwise easy to follow, climbs steadily but gently up into the wilderness,
past a small meadow,
and then a small unnamed pond.
Just past this pond, we branched right on a now unmaintained trail that, until 1985 or so, was shown on the map and was the way to the loop trail and the butte. This is the route described in SummitPost. Unfortunately, there are two other trails in this area - one built in 1995 or so and now seemingly abandoned but still on the map and a new trail that is not mapped - that can cause confusion. Not too surprisingly, we encountered three mapless hikers who we had to assist with directions. But the 1985 trail is pretty easy to follow to the rim - it's old school and well marked with blazes -
and to a view of Lake Harriette - the largest lake in the wilderness - sitting below Mt. Harriman. That lake looked pretty appealing to us.
From there, an OK use trail follows the ridge up toward the summit (arrow),
mostly over dirt with only a few, minor boulder fields to cross.
There were no impediments along the ridge and we were soon on the summit - where we found that Aspen was apparently spelled differently in 1920.
We had lunch on the summit, drinking in the HUGE VIEWS in all directions!
McLoughlin, Whiteface Pk (in front of McLoughlin), and the rim we just hiked,
Upper Klamath Lake and South Pass Lake,
Mt. Shasta,
and a butterfly (arrow) that photo-bombed me.
All too soon, it was time to head back down.
But we took time to stop by Clover Lake, which is just N of where we'd turned off on the old trail to the rim. Sullivan describes this lake as ...small, disappointing... which, again, seems overly harsh. It's the only lake on this side of the wilderness, has nice camp sites, and there are plenty of fish in it. Plus its full of WATER - which is in short supply down here this summer.
A great hike (10.5 mi RT, 2700' EG) on good trails through a pleasant area to outstanding views!
Sorry, Terry, we like reading about your travels and trip suggestions, but simply can't see the Mountain Lakes Wilderness as "unappealing." But, to be fair, we're going to force ourselves to hike in from Varney Creek to see if those lakes "have their charms" or not. 
