We were seeking an alpine lake without extreme effort and so went with the very familiar visit to Snow Lake on this very warm (82 degrees F) day. It was our first time up since the trail closure last year.
The trail is in good shape; lots of new steps were a welcome sight. I will note, though, that decent hiking boots came in handy this time, as even in "normal" sections of the trail, there are still plenty of jagged-rocks around which you'll need to watch your step.
We dropped down by the lake and took a hike around to a particularly beautiful, small peninsula on the north side of the lake, which was a lovely potential campsite and nobody was there are the moment. This did, however, involve crossing some pretty rough granite talus, and it did a number on our dog's leg, necessitating us to carry him (all 25 pounds) back out over the saddle and down to the parking lot. He's OK, but the experience is a good lesson in being sure to pick up your dog if they might have a hard time finding their footing on slick, jumbled rocks. (Rarely is the hike down *harder* than the hike up, but lugging an animal over your shoulder will do that.) At least it made for a funny sight for folks.
As for the crowd report, I'm happy to report that we saw zero (0) un-bagged poops and only one (1) person playing music from a speaker on the hike. The trail was busy. We arrived at 12:30 on this hot day, and it was the usual freeway. The lakeshore had probably 50 to 75 people swimming and relaxing. By 12:30, upper and lower lots were pretty gosh-darn full, still.
Another note for hikers: on hot days, this trail is also hot. While lower sections are 60/40 shade/sunlight, the upper sections have much higher sun exposure, so it'll bake you a bit on your way up.
As always, the lake itself was beautiful, a cool breeze was blowing across the water and we remind ourselves of our good fortune at being so close to such accessibly gorgeous locations.
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