Tough but great hike! Learn from my mistakes:
- I didn't believe a trail report that took 9 hours. But we took about 9 hours. The reason it's slower than you'd expect is that the grade is steep and rocky. So you can't go that fast on the way down.
- Wish I brought microspikes... you could scramble up a rock ridge to the top but I got to a part that I wasn't comfortable doing without someone in my party nearby. Easier to just spike up the snow.
- Bring extra socks! I brought some but forgot them in the car. So on the stream crossing I had wet feet and the best I could do was wring my socks.
- This would've been the perfect hike for a water filter: the stream water coming down from Vesper Lake was very cold and would've been way better than my lukewarm water.
I drank about 3.5L water and ate 3.5 clif/kind bars. I had a little water leftover but ate all the food and wish I'd brought a banana too.
There's a bathroom at the trailhead but it's almost full; I'd guess it has at most a week until full. The road is sketchy and doesn't have the closure that the page mentions. We were driving a car with low clearance and it was okay despite a few potholes we didn't see and a few awful sounds of rocks screeching against something under the car.
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