A beautiful but tough hike. We started early, as it was pretty hot out and it was definitely the right choice as the sunny spots on the route back were a little stifling. The trail is mostly flat for the first few miles then takes a steep and sizable series of switchbacks. The switchbacks are fun but require a mall amount of scrambling in places where the trail has been a little chewed up by weather. There’s a few blowdowns but they’ve had steps cut into them so they’re completely manageable. The first lake, little Greider, is beautiful and ultimately where we opted to sit for lunch. Big Greider, about a mile further, requires some bushwhacking and isn’t nearly as enjoyable and had significantly worse bugs. Lots of bugs at the start of the trail as well but they eased off during the uphill section. Be wary coming down as well as the grade is steep and some of the rocks aren’t especially stable; a bad fall would be entirely possible.
Definitely a tougher (but doable!) hike. Bring lots of water (three bottles wound up not being enough for two of us), bug spray, and sunscreen. Oddly the flat section going out wound up being the toughest as it feels like you’re repeating sections you’ve already covered in places and fools you into thinking you’re almost out when you have several miles still to go. There are several toilets along the route but they aren’t serviced often it seems and the one we tried (at Little Greider) was…full, for lack of a better visual.
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