Gorgeous crisp fall day in the Cascades. The unpaved section of the drive along FS Road 5480 is in great condition -- until it's not. But it is only the last 0.3 miles that is pretty much impassable to all but the most determined. That last part of the "road" is narrow, rutted, rocky, and has vegetation growing in from the sides that seems like it would do a number on your paint job even if your high clearance vehicle did fine on the rocks/ruts (see picture). The trail was not crowded on this Tuesday late morning and all the people that were there opted to park before the road turned rough and walk the final segment. There were no cars parked at the more official TH parking lot. No facilities either. The start of the trail is not signed, but someone has helpfully constructed a sizeable arrow made of rocks (no shortage of those around) pointing at the trail which begins on a curve in the road right before the would-be parking lot.
The trail is in really good shape. Only one large tree across the trail right before a creek, but the path around and under it is very apparent and it is easy to crouch under it. I did the short side trail to Cottonwood Lake -- worth it for the view. First snow patches start around 3,800'. The trail itself remains mostly snow-free until just before the Mirror Lake/PCT junction, but is always easy to follow. A few inches of snow in places and some ice, but nothing difficult to traverse. The lake is not yet frozen, but a pond at the PCT junction is (mostly) frozen.
I walked to the south end of Mirror Lake and then northbound on the PCT for the better part of an hour before turning around. PCT heading north has modest snow in the shady areas and is clear in the sunny areas. Fall colors are nice. This is a beautiful area to enjoy the cool sunny weather before it get buried (fingers crossed!) in snow.
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