Is this quietly the best early season waterfall hike in the area?
Gothic Basin has been on my list for a long time, so I decided to try to knock it out after I hit Vesper in the morning. Legs started out feeling relatively fresh, but faded on me as the ascent wore on.
The trail has maybe 3 very large blowdowns that have to be bypassed. The trail gets rough enough towards the end that these won't be the worst of your problems, but just be aware.
The big surprise of this trail to me was the waterfalls. There are 4 big waterfalls, or series of waterfalls, that would be a huge attraction if you dropped them down a mile long trail in a national park. I think going about 3.2mi will get you all the good ones, but they'll obviously shrink as the snow pack that's feeding them melts away.
The last mile or so had a lot of snow on the trail and was a bit sketchy at times. I'd left my ice axe in the car, but would've probably swapped a pole for it for this section if I'd brought it. I did have my microspikes, but I was able to kick in enough to leave them in my pack. Descent was arguably worse.
Everything is still under a thick layer of snow at the basin. It was beautiful, but I do suspect this is a destination that's more enjoyable late in the season.
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