As is always the case, the dirt road is dusty and a long 11 miles or so at 20-25 miles and hour. And yes the car will get very dirty, but the payoff is more than worth the effort. We showed up at the trailhead at 7:10am and were in the trail by 7:20. The Asprire adventure running team were in camp having breakfast before setting out for their 30+ mile jaunt for the day (they were doing the entire Wonderland in 3 days! Luckily they were heading out the other direction!
We took a more civilized pace and enjoyed the entire trail to ourselves. If you have never been, definitely take the short out ands back side trip to the falls. The water volume must be at about its peak now...incredible power! The trail was in great shape. Just a little muddy at the top and a few small snow fields between the lower meadows up toward Cataract Valley Campsite. All passable without spikes.
The wild flowers were out in full bloom and were were fortunate to see three different goat families (two babies!). We also got a chance to see a mama black bear with two cubs in the lower meadow on our way back down...luckily very socially distant! Lots of hikers as we made our way back down, but most had masks and made good faith efforts to turn away etc.
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