Warning: I started from the Tinkham Rd trailhead (exit 42). As another recent trip report highlighted, this is a great add-on to the hike. The sounds of the raging creek are all you hear for most of this segment. Normally, I bet this segment is awesome (I was looking forward to just listening to the creek for a while on my way out). But with all of the blowdowns, I got LOST on the way back down. It was pretty close to the trailhead. I had the AllTrails map. I had a breadcrumb trail on my watch. Didn't help. Where it was telling me there was a trail...there was no trail :) I wandered around for a little while, and backtracked to try to pick up the trail again. No success (I found the trail, but then it seemed like it suddenly just stopped & I couldn't see the path forward). I knew I was close, so I ended up just making a break for it & plowed straight ahead. Came out of the woods about 0.25mi from the road where I parked. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED! There were a few strands of a rusty old barbed wire fence along this trail that I almost ran into.
Road conditions: There's no "parking lot" @ this trailhead, just a small road segment. I was the first car there @ 6am today. Only one other car when I left around 11. The road to the main trailhead is notoriously dicey, so that's why I tried to avoid it.
Trail conditions: Tinkham road trailhead -> road: This section is very muddy in a number of places. Like sink into the mud deep. Didn't hit my ankles, just letting you know you should have backup shoes in the car :) There is at least one "bridge" crossing that requires excellent balance (no handrail), and with muddy/slippery shoes on the way back it may be even more of a challenge.
main trailhead: Conditions are pretty fabulous. Bone dry for the bulk of the trail. There are a few trees in both segments to step over (think there was one I had to duck under on the Tinkham road segment). There are short segments of snow as you descend towards the lake, and so there are some muddy spots here too as the snow is melting (again, a few of them are "sink into the mud" deep).
Lake: OMG it was so amazing this morning. No campers down there, so I found a great seat & sat right next to the perfectly still lake for a little while.
People: Main parking lot was FULL of people on my way out. And they were lined up pretty far down the road as well. Pretty normal for this trailhead, but I thought it was odd to see @ 11am on a weekday. Only saw 3 people on the way up, but probably 50+ on the way back. Lesson - get an early start (you want that lake to yourself). There was a pretty great human/dog ratio today, so that was awesome. But I'd say < 25% of folks were wearing masks, and weren't sticking to the edges of the trail to maintain a little social distance.
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