The road to the TH is now open having been closed for logging until Nov 15th (per last trip report). The road is in good condition with just the last mile having some potholes and compact snow and ice. I was able to make it to the trailhead in my Forester.
The trail starts out snow free, but then within 1 mile the snow starts. I put on the snowshoes at ~3,200'. There were tracks which were fairly easy to follow up to about where the bridge is at the first meadow, ~3,400'. After that I was keeping the GPS handy as I navigated trying to stay near the trail. I made it about 3 miles in, still a ways from Cutthroat Lakes. There is a steep avalanche area that needed to be crossed.
With the weather temps inversion it was spring-like up higher! Down on the Mountain Loop Highway it was 26 degrees, but when starting at the TH it was 46 and then 50 when I got back. Very pleasant! The snow was a bit soft, but the snowshoes helped with this.
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