Overall:
This hike was amazing- but comes with its challenges with the blowdowns, some snow cover, and most importantly: the creek crossing. The lake had plenty of campsites available, and we were able to secure a decent amount of area to ourselves. Keep in mind that this trail will have some route finding as you will need to keep an eye out for the trail intersections. I do not believe that this is a very challenging hike to navigate- but it all comes down to skill level on this.
Snow conditions:
There were a couple of snow patches that were unavoidable, but we did not need spikes to walk across them- Be aware of the snow bridges as some of the patches are pretty thin in areas.
Trail Conditions:
Overall the trail was really good until Pete Lake. At that point- the blowdowns start. They are very passable as long as you are able to climb over logs, but they are an annoyance. The burn area seems to have the most of these.
Water Crossing:
The water crossing needs some good evaluation as to what you feel comfortable with. The current was strong and up beyond my knees (I am 5'7"). I breifly considered not taking the risk, but ended up finding a decent line that I figured was passable. I would not recommend this as a first river crossing- it starts out really strong, and the water is incredibly cold.
Bugs:
Mosquitoes were an annoyance, we had a fairly constant swarm of 4-10 following us. I have had worse, but this wasn't very pleasant either. Bug netting was a good choice for us.
The Bad:
I generally do not care about people carrying firearms into the backwoods, but I had the unpleasant experience of looking into the barrel of a (presumably loaded) firearm as a hiker had their gun pointing sideways on their shoulder strap. I believe this is unacceptable. If you feel that you must carry- keep the barrels pointed at the ground. Also there were nearby shooters along the first ~3 miles of the trail- so it might be good for people to bring brighter colored clothing on this hike.
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