road to trailhead inaccessible. ran into increasingly wet deep snow at bridge and encountered truck who turned us back saying he had turned back due to deep snow and was happy he was able to make it out.

Girlfriend, dog, and I started hiking about 10am Saturday. A group of Boy Scouts were camping at the trailhead - apparently got caught off guard with Denny Creek Campsite being closed.
Easy hiking up to first creek crossing, where the bridge is still out. There is a bever dam that some were attempting to cross, successfully. However we chose to walk straight across and with safe steps water never got higher than mid boot.
The first 3 miles on both Saturday and Sunday were un-eventful. Good views of Franklin Falls and some snow. Trail was packed well and no need for snowshoes here. Microspikes would be helpful but some were without - the snow was slushy enough where it was not a big difference.
Mile 3 until the lake (4.7) we used snowshoes. On the way up Saturday the trail was somewhat packed, but overnight there was almost a foot of fresh snow so snowshoes were mandatory for our return trip. At least two others make the hike to the lake on Sunday, including our tracks out - the trail should still be visible. Snow was still falling as we left - so I would highly recommend snowshoes if you intend to make the lake.
Some exposed areas are avalanche prone. Make sure to check the forecast and hike safely through the open areas.
The lake is nearly 100% frozen, there is still running water coming out - which was somewhat treacherous to cross to get to our intended campsite. No signs of wildlife at the campsite, even the birds were out of sight.

Wonderful Trip, hiking up was tough but hiking out was one of the best snowshoe trips I've ever had.

After getting pelted with rain all the way to the summit of Teneriffe two days earlier, I figured there couldn't be too much snow on the trail to Kaleetan Peak.

I was wrong.

It's the worst kind of early season snow, too: unconsolidated, hiding massive voids below. My solid steps were punctuated by frequent postholing, which wasn't quite frequent enough not to come as a shock each and every time. It was enough to keep me from my target: Kaleetan Peak.

The good news for anyone setting out for Denny Creek or Melakwa Lakes: the trail's been stamped in pretty well to the viewpoint of Kaleetan just short of the lakes. The footing is pretty solid. The creek crossings are pretty icy.

Where the snowshoe tracks end, so does the decent footing. Bring snowshoes or prepare to flail around, fall over and generally go very very slowly uphill. The ridge run to Kaleetan is particularly bad - nearly every step sunk me hip-deep. I was not too proud to crawl (I had no choice).

There's definitely some avvy risk on steep leeward slopes. Not a lot of those here, though.

I made it to the trailhead at about 11:00 and started off in fairly heavy rain. Just after making it past the I-90 overpass it turned to snow and accumulated quickly. By 2:30 I had made it to within 3/4 of a mile of the lake, however the snow was about 2' deep, the wind was coming up and in the interest of safety I turned back. At this point the only realistic way to make it to the lake will be with snowshoes as the trail was fully covered.

Overall a nice hike though with a mix of avalanche chutes, woods, streams, meadows and waterfalls everywhere. I'll be back with my snowshoes yet this winter.