TL;DR Not much changed since the report below, but still will share some details.
Arrived to the trailhead parking lot around 7:30 AM this Saturday, and there already were about 10-15 cars parked. I assume the majority of folks were doing some other trails as I only met 3 groups of hikers going up.
On the side note, I noticed a suspicious car parked near the parking lot (silver Cadillac sedan with fully tinted windows, no plates and engine running), so I was a bit nervous that my car could be broken into when I get back. Luckily, everything was fine and I didn't see any damaged cars or broken glass on the lot.
The snow starts pretty early on the trail, so spikes and poles are definitely going to help. The lake looks fully frozen and covered with snow, though I didn't risk walking over it. As mentioned before, there are some avalanche chutes that need to be crossed, so make sure you check NWAC website before heading out.
With moderate pace and plenty of time spent at the lake, the roundtrip took about 5hrs.
Overall, it was a nice and cloudy day in the mountains. I attached a link to a short video that shows that day's mood
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