We arrived at the trailhead with a group of 5 at about 8:30AM. There was a little snow in the parking lot, but even a 2WD low-clearance vehicle without snow tires could manage just fine.
You could probably manage the first half of the ascent with just microspikes, but we elected to just put our snowshoes on in the parking lot to avoid to inevitable transition later on.
We followed a decently established track for approximately the first half of the walk out. There are two stream crossings that could be easy to miss without an established track. The first one is particularly important, as it gets you over to the East side of the valley. The second is much smaller; crossing a small stream coming down off of the Western side of the valley.
Not too far beyond the second stream crossing, the climb gets more intense and the trail much less distinct. We wove our way directly uphill for most of it, trying to avoid the steepest/exposed sections. Snowshoes were definitely required for this section, and poles and/or an ice axe are definitely helpful.
Once you hit the ridge line, the climb becomes much gentler. As the upper basin becomes visible you're treated to some spectacular views. We were breaking trail at this point, and the expanse of pristine powdery snow was simply breathtaking (and a joy to snowshoe in).
We stopped along the shore of Surprise Lake to eat our lunch and then headed towards Glacier Lake. We hit our turn-around time (and the extent of our collective will) shortly before reaching Glacier Lake and turned back.
We got back to the parking lot at 3:30PM for a total round-trip time of around 6 hours and 30 minutes.
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