We hiked Breccia Peak on July 14. It was glorious. Only saw one other person on the hike, who also did Breccia (managing it with a dog).
The trail has already been brushed and logged up to the Round Lake junction. Thank you! The only notable exception is the very large tree about a mile in that has been there for several years. There is a large notch carved out of the bottom to make it a bit easier to crawl under.
The trail is snow-free to the Round Lake turnoff. From there we took the scenic route up to Breccia, hiking the Lost Creek Ridge trail until it traverses the basin between Breccia and Zi Iob at about 5850. This basin did have large snow patches, but nothing too steep or difficult and we were able to follow the trail. There, we left the LCR trail and headed uphill, then crossed the pass between Breccia and Zi Iob. We headed from there on the north side of ridge to the peak, on easy, low-angle snow fields and then boulders toward the top. I can say from experience that this part is actually easier with snow.
Then we descended the more direct route back to the LCR trail, via Sunup Lake. Sunup Lake itself was thawed but the campsites were either under snow or soggy from snow melt. This descent likewise had some snow patches but nothing too steep or difficult.
On the whole, we were fine with just poles. The snow was never steep, and it was so warm out and slushy that microspikes would have been mostly useless anyway.
We did not go to Round Lake. Looking down from above, the trail from the ridge down to Round Lake looked quite snowy still, possibly pretty tricky, and not sure if the campsites are melted. Based on experience and topography, I would also guess that the snow on the LCR trail is more extensive and treacherous east of Zi Iob, where the trail starts crossing and re-crossing the top of the ridge. And I'm guessing Camp Lake and Lake Byrne are still snowbound. Indeed, the fact that it is still a bit early for most people to be backpacking to any of the lakes on the ridge is probably why we only saw one other person. But hey, with this warm July weather, just give it a week or two.
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