Eagle Pass, Oval Pass & Oval Lakes — Thursday, Sep. 28, 2023

Did the loop from Oval Creek, up Oval Pass, down (and then up!) Eagle Pass, and then rejoining the Oval Creek trailhead. The road to the TH is in fine condition, with a few blowdown trees easily navigated around.

Larches are solid gold for the higher altitude reaches of the hike, but some of the trees in the lower meadows of the hike (e.g below 7k ft) are still in the process of turning.

Temperature was a bit below freezing at night - as witnessed by the slushy nature of the water bottle I left outside my tent overnight- and with the wind/blowing snow, the conditions at Oval Pass were winter-like. Descending from Oval Pass was a bit slow, as a fall would have been both easy and unpleasant.... all that fresh snow compounded with the steep talus of the trail made for unstable footing, but once I hit the treeline it was relatively smooth sailing.

I camped out at the junction with the Summit Trail: the outdoor toilet boasts excellent views, but most of the campsites were a bit soggy.

One thing to note: the first few miles of the trail are a bit overgrown, and considering it was sleeting/raining at that altitude, the amount of water from the brush that made it onto my pants/boots was enormous. I wore my waterproof pants on the way back, to avoid having to wring out my socks every 30 minutes.

Obviously, there was no one else masochistic to camp out on a Wednesday in these conditions: I didn't see anyone else until I was just about at the trailhead on my way back.