Hiked this on Sunday with two friends after seeing how crowded Skyline Lake TH was. We saw two other groups in our time up there (~10:00-3:00) who didn’t use snowshoes (not sure if they had micro spikes, would be ideal though).
The first half-mile or so before the access road featured spotty snow and didn’t require snowshoes. This portion lets out at a power line clearing and the rest of the trail continues about straight across. We took a right from where it let out, taking the access road up, but one group we passed took an icy trail to the left of the closest power line tower. At the other side of the clearing there’s a sign indicating the trail. Psquare’s November 17th report offers much clearer directions if needed.
From the clearing on, the trail was well-defined and thoroughly snow-covered (we needed snowshoes all the way up). Elevation gain is periodic but not very extreme, I found it manageable at a moderate pace despite using snowshoes for the first time and not having hiked recently.
The hike up took us about 1hr 30m along with getting lost at the access road, with the hike down taking a little over an hour. The lake was gorgeous, would absolutely recommend if you’d like a fairly easy day hike/snowshoe with little to no traffic on the trail.
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