The road to the trailhead is its usual pothole carnage. There really is no way to avoid the deep, mud & water filled holes other than to park roadside & walk to the trailhead. This would only add about 1/2 mile to your hike, just be sure to park so others can safely pass.
I took my new Subaru Outback Wilderness with higher clearance & bounced my way up, carefully maneuvering the roller coaster ride. I parked just before the deep, rutted icy snow at the trailhead about the size of a football field. Unfortunately there was a vehicle at the far end that appeared to be stuck. Sure enough, their AWD Mazda was buried to the frame. They told me they’d been there all night. So I hopped back in my car & rode the roller coaster back to the highway & stopped at the Mountain Loop General Store where the nice lady let me use their landline to call for help. Then back up the roller coaster again to assure someone was on their way to rescue them.
After that fiasco, I finally hit the trail. There were a few downed trees along the way up that could be ducked under or crawled over. The trail was wet in places so waterproof boots would be best. The boardwalk about 3/4 the way up has a few missing boards. I encountered intermittent snow about 1/3 mile from that lake & donned my micro spikes to avoid slipping on the icy, slushy snow. It became a steady snow wonderland as I got closer to the lake. I lucked out & had blue skies for the lake view!
Happy hiking!!
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