I arrived at parking lots at 9:15am on a Monday morning and there were 9-10 cars there. There’s a good foot of snow on the ground. The trail to the lake is well trod and easy to follow. It’s packed down by all the hikers. I wore snow boots. I was envious of hikers with gaiters. I was not envious of folks in tennis shoes. Beautiful wintry day. 

Hiked on Saturday, perfect weather conditions. Drove past the trailhead Sunday at 12pm and it was snowing, about 2 inches on the ground on Highway 20. We arrived at 8am and there was parking in the lots on Sat. We came back at about 11:30am on Sat and there were cars down the road for about half a mile. Fairly busy trail on the way back down, starting around 10am there were lots of dogs and bikers. Not my favorite to have to yield to bikers. Heard a kingfisher at the lake! The larches and fall foliage all around were beautiful. 

Backpacker(s) left a fire that had not been fully extinguished. We could smell it down by the lake and found it in a tent site fire pit between the lake and the creek around 11:30 a.m. Sunday. The ends of 3 logs/large branches, each greater than 8 feet, were smoldering. One in the pit and the other 2 on either side. Additional brush and branches were in contact with the ends not in/near the fire pit. Perhaps you thought the snow would stop the fire?? We doused them with water.

Currently, campfires are prohibited until October 15.

Nice quick sunset hike to do on our first evening in the area. Was pleasantly surprised by all the yellow larches that could be seen dotting nearby peaks as well as those sprinkled along this path and reflecting around the lake. At the end of the day we only encountered one mountain bike and zero horses, but my hiking partner referred to the amount of horse poop on the trail as dramatic. If needed though, the trail is easy to walk out with a flashlight. Highly recommend hiking here now to see this beautiful fall scenery.

Wow this hike is way better than advertised. A gem in plain sight of all those zipping by on HWY 20 (me until today). The reward to work ratio is off the charts.

Crowded trailhead but not too wild. Most larch seekers hit Maple Pass or Blue Lake. This hike is great with kids or your parents, bring all three generations on this one. Lots of cars with frost on them from overnighters. 

Trail is very smooth. Be prepared to share the trail with lost of mountain bikers and (less) horseback riders. Open views of Hinkhouse Peak and Molar Tooth right off the bat. Forest is open for most of this hike, a classic eastern cascades feel. The sheer size of this valley and the cirques under the peaks is impressive. More than I anticipated. Soon you can see Cutthroat Peak before dipping into denser forests. You come to a split in the trail after emerging from the thicker forest. The left leads to the lake, the right to Cutthroat Pass. However the right also completes a loop with the left branch. We took the left and it leads to a really nice flat wander through a very "fairyland" feeling mixed larch/pine/fir forest. Really beautiful with some meadows and bogs. Soon you reach the lake and wow, it is gorgeous. Take it from someone who has seen a lot of lakes with cirques, this one is one of the most impressive I've ever seen. So grand! The width of it, ringed >270 deg by peaks, and the height - 3000' from lake to the top of Cutthroat peak (as tall as El Capitan). Then add in the golden larches everywhere - you have a winner. I will definitely return again. We explored a bit and found where the trail loops (love a loop over an out and back) and looped back, passing the turn off to the pass, before reconnecting to the split. The loop was definitely worth it. More popular as we hiked out, but nothing comparable to the slammed trailheads of Blue and Maple Pass we drove by on the way back home.