We hiked up Stagman Ridge, and did the Lookingglass Lake/Horseshoe Meadow loop counter-clockwise. The trail is largely exposed, and there is little water on the Stagman Ridge trail, Round the Mountain, or PCT section, but a fair bit on the sections around the lake.
There's one creek trickling on the Stagman Ridge trail, around 5040 ft, just after turning away from Grassy Hill. There is a muddy trickle of a creek splitting the Stagman Ridge trail from the fork to the Graveyard section to Lookingglass Lake.
The Graveyard section (connecting Stagman to Lookingglass) is a bit rough in areas, climbing in and out of creek drainages. Most are now dry. The crossing just west of Lookingglass that feeds Cascade Creek is the only crossing of note, and is rock-hoppable with some nerves and balance (maybe a lot of nerves, if you're me, not so much if you're my dog). We meandered far enough south looking for a dry crossing that when we climbed out of the drainage, we were right over Lookingglass Lake, easy. The lake is amazing. Several parties agreed, since at least two large groups had set up camps. We took an unused campsite for lunch. We then tried to finish circumnavigating the lake by bushwhacking the northeastern quadrant, which was a bit pointless, before continuing the loop up to meet the Round the Mountain trail.
Crossing the same creek up here is much easier---there's a stout log that spans it. There are a few other minor creek crossings on this section (Looking Glass Lake Trail #9A). Once it joins with the Round the Mountain trail, the trail is dry.
Horseshoe Meadow is looking a bit wispy, but there is some fall color showing there and along the mountainside. We missed our turn off the PCT by about a quarter mile, but it's actually really obvious and signed, so don't know how we managed that. Once back on the right path, it's just a hot, dusty way down. The dogs wallowed in both available creeks due to the exposure (or... let's be honest, they do that anyway). We didn't see a ton of people, considering the location and the holiday weekend. A few groups camping, a few parties doing the loop clockwise. Maybe 10 parties total. A bit hot, but a really nice day.
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