Took advantage of the dry weather over the weekend for a late afternoon hike. No snow on the road accessing the trailhead, just a lot of potholes. Should be doable in most any car. We went up in our Jeep but elected to park at the parking area about 0.25 miles from the true trailhead. There's enough space for about a dozen cars here.
The distance from the parking area to the true trailhead was about 0.25 miles per my Garmin, not 0.5 as noted in the trail description. The trailhead is off to the left of the road just as the road turns right, marked by a prominent cairn and wooden sign propped on the ground.
The first section of trail goes through an old clear cut and is not exciting, but quickly enters the woods. Sections of the trail are a bit rooty at times. There was one mildly challenging stream crossing about 0.6 miles from the parking area, but was very doable with water running low. A few patches of ice were challenging, including a large one right before the junction with the PCT. Traction could be helpful, but sections were just bare ice so we made it fine (but slowly) in our boots. Poles were helpful.
We made it up to the lake just before sunset and had it to ourselves. Needed headlamps on the last stretch of road on the return. We only saw about 4 other groups and enjoyed plenty of solitude on the trail. Get up there before it starts snowing again!
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