We set off late in the day to start a longer hike around 1:00pm and had trouble parking. Pulled off onto the side of the road on a wide shoulder and made sure that all of our passes were displayed, and payed the $5 use fee. Didn't get towed so that was good! I also drive a Nissan Altima so you should be able to get there in anything.
This hike would be a great over-nighter, there was a handful of people, probably ~10 over the course of the 4 hours we were hiking. A few campers, one at the river crossing and another at a really cool spot probably .5 miles before it.
The report before mine says there is lots of obstacles on the trail, I only remember two both of which were pretty minor (not including the wet parts). One was a log across the trail, that was about 4 feet in height leaving plenty of room to go under, and some brush that was on the trail as well, which just stepped around with no problems. There is lots of purple and white flowers blooming, which was a pretty thing to see as well as lots of stream crossings that were really cool. Some of these are a tad higher risk of getting a wet foot. We both hiked it in trail running shoes (not water proof) and had no problems with moisture.
We are probably the funniest thing to see in the parking lot as we hike with our two children (1.5 years and 2 months old) in backpacks. We managed to do the 5 miles to the crossing in just shy of 2 hours, at a pretty decent pace carrying 25+ pounds that likes to wiggle. There is plenty of up and down, but nothing severe. This is a good hike if you don't have the desire to be in the snow, or lack the right gear. If we did this again i'd bring just one water bottle, and a water pump/filter. There is plenty of water sources to tap into!
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