Patches of snow began at 3600ft and became persistent at about 4100ft, just before the lakes. Microspikes were helpful here. There is a solid bootpath to follow throughout. Bugs were out, but none were biting or stinging. Made it to the top of Bald Mountain with a dog without issues. Good luck!

Dog and I headed up the road to see what the trail looked like. Road clear all the way to trailhead. First mile of the trail was pretty easy, but running water in patches. Once to the first basin snow made the trail hard to find, and as I was the only one to be in the area did not want to chance it. Jagger had a great time running in the snow and taking a dip (accidental). We'll try it again later in the season. Driving back had a good laugh at the aprox 200 cars at Lake 22.

My hiking partner and I tried to go backpacking up this trail but had to turn around. The road getting up to the trail is rough and rocky. There are deep potholes and downed trees. There are a few snow banks to cross about 50 feet long, but nothing too bad. We just hit them with some speed and made it through. As for the trail however it is totally covered with deep snow. We made it about 1 mile up the trail where there is a creek about 1ft deep and 5ft wide with about 4-5ft of snow on either side. My partner and I threw our packs to the other side. I jumped over first and made it, but my partner fell in as he started to jump. After that we had to turn around and bail out. We ended up camping nearby. I would not attempt this trail without snow shoes, tall boots, and a lot of determination.

The big news about this trip is that I was able to drive to the trailhead, elevation ~3,000'!  Usually this time of year, the road is covered in snow and this trip becomes a snowshoe/roadwalk.  The road is in great condition, with just a few potholes, mostly about the last mile before the TH.

The trail has snow patches starting at ~3,400', and when the snow becomes consistent it is easy to lose the trail.  GPS was very helpful.  I put the snowshoes on at ~3,800' and made it up and over the saddle to the view looking down on Spada Lake. 

If you're doing this trail in the winter, I would check the avalanche forecast as there is some definite avalanche terrain along the way. Today all elevations were green.

This is a fun area to snowshoe!

Gaia stats:  9.25 miles, 7:44 time, 2,329' elv.

Hit snow maybe 1/2-3/4 mile in. Not fresh, but crusty frozen. Did 3 miles in and never got to lakes which most likely would be frozen over. We were making our own trail but it was a gorgeous day!!