great panoramic views from bald mountain, beautiful fall colors and tasty berries
the road is in very good condition, the first 6 miles are very smooth, the last mile has minor potholes, about 20 minutes from mountain loop road to the trailhead in a camry
the trail is often has a lot of section with many rocks and roots, so poles are handy especially for the descent. some short sections are muddy. some short sections are a bit overgrown, so you might get wet when it's damp.
cutthroat lakes are beautiful, but not sure if worth the hike by themselves. the views from bald mountain really make the hike worthy.
the ascent took ~1:45 to the lakes, and another hour to bald mountain. the descent took ~2 hours. total trip time ~5.5 hours with some breaks.
there are many social trails after upper cutthroat lake, so having a gps is worthwhile. if you find yourself doing a real bushwack then you are probably not on the right trail. to get to the summit, follow the trail till it's end, then relatively easy class 3 scramble, had to use my hands in one place, but no real exposure. the rock is very grippy as well so i felt confident.
saw 7 groups today
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