Bluebird day and beautiful mountain views!  Microspikes worked on the way up, but as the sun melted the snow, lots of postholing, so snowshoes on the way down.  Make sure you have a sno-parks pass to park there.

Perfect day for this snowshoe. Went to the second lake and the last view point after the intersection with the trail that goes to the lakes. Easy to follow. Boot track all the way. Used spikes up to the first lake. A little icy. Used snowshoes to the second lake and the viewpoint. Did not use traction on the way back. Had the snow park permit in the car. Only 5 cars along the road at 8:30am. Lots when we left at 2:00.

This route can be done without snowshoes, but I highly recommend them or skis for a more optimal experience. Trail was easy to follow and packed pretty well most of the way but was slippery and prone to post-holing in areas of direct sunlight.  There were a couple areas that were a little nerve wracking to cross like razor edges and snow bridges, but overall very doable for someone with no experience hiking in the snow. We clocked closer to 10 miles total. This is a beautiful day trek and I hope to come back and do it on skis!

On this Wednesday, the sno-park was not plowed at any time during the day. Some vehicles had difficulty in the slushy, slippery snowy road surfaces. PortaPotties had TP in the morning.  It snowed the entire trip up to the 1st lake but, on the way back to TH, it turned to rain during the last mile.

Another Beautiful blue bird day! This is a fantastic trail that is a Goldilocks of trails. It has pristine snow covered lakes, deep thick snow covered trees, some decent views, and challenging but not too difficult. Despite getting over a foot of fresh snow, the trail is well traveled so it was easy to follow and well packed. We didn't need any traction devices (spikes or snowshoes). If you go off the trail it drops 2+ft so snowshoes would be required if you want to explore off trail. Personally the first lake is all you need. The second lake is another 15 minutes up the hill, but not nearly as cool as the first lake.