Amazing!!! Larches are definitely at their peak. Go soon! I'm guessing reports of snow, falling needles, and crowds kept folks from risking the trip. But I'm guessing these little buddies have a few more days at least!

I'd recommend bringing poles to manage the very slippery and muddy trails near the top.

Grey, drizzly day was perfect to head past the hunters gearing up and catch some larch in the basin as the snow came down. Socked in so only glimpses of the surrounding peaks. But did see 3 other parties and multiple hunters in the parking lot.

Road is really only bad in the occasional spots (mainly lots of jagged rocks) and remarkably smooth for the most part.

My friend and I decided to try this hike since previous hikers had reported how beautiful the Larches were up there. We got to the trailhead about 9:30, there were about 8 vehicles already and 2 more followed us. This trail is nearly a 1000 foot gain each mile, so it's up hill all the way. After 3 miles up we finally reached Carne Mountain basin area, this is where all the Larches were growing. This area was so magical with a forest of Larches and snow lightly dusting the ground around. Unfortunately we didn't make it up to the mountain summit, that will be next time. Even though this was a hard up and down hike, the beauty of the larch forest made up for it. This was probably the last few days for the Larches up here since snow is coming this week and the needles were starting to drop.

Wanted to get in a larch march before the snow comes. This hike and the golden larches did not disappoint! Great day, uncrowded, everyone I encountered was in a wonderful mood. The road is gnarly, but I talked to another hiker who did it in a Prius. The gain is constant but not overly steep. I am middle aged and out of shape, and made it to the basin in 2h15 with lots of breaks. Ate lunch then almost made it to the Carne summit but it was cloudy, snowing pretty good, I was tired and just done, and the views were almost nil, so decided to turn around. Will come back to summit in the summer when there are views (and for the workout)! Glad I got to see the larches, just an amazing day on the trail.

This hike has been on my larch list for a few years, so I was excited to finally get the chance to do it on Saturday! I did not expect it to be so busy with how few trip reports there are, but similar to the report from Friday, there were many many people, with cars lined far down the road. We arrived around 1 pm hoping to miss the morning crowds and parked .35 miles from the TH. The road is rough, and we made it in a lower clearance car along with a few others, but it involved all 3 passengers getting out and walking at some points (both lower clearance cars in front of us did the same). So it's doable, but it was a very nerve wracking 8 miles or so on rough road. FYI there is no toilet here.

Thankfully the afternoon arrival time meant most people we saw were coming down the trail. It is very narrow and difficult to pull off in many places, but most people yielded to us uphill hikers (yay for trail etiquette!). There are beautiful peekaboo mountain views starting from the parking lot, and they just get better as you climb. The meadow area below the pass has a gorgeous large larch grove that seemed to be at peak over the weekend. Incredible orange glow, even on a cloudy day! 

After you switchback through the grove, you come to a pass which is a great spot for a snack. However, this isn't the top! The true summit of Carne is to the left about another quarter mile, complete with summit register (not much room on the paper, maybe bring some if you're able!). I'd say less than a quarter of people went the whole way when we were there. It got pretty cloudy so many of the peaks were obscured, but it was still worth doing in this type of weather. I look forward to returning in the future on a clear day.