Hiked with my friend and we almost made it to North Lake. Overall a nice day with great weather, many flowers in bloom - lots of trillium!
The Road: Yes, the road is narrow with several large potholes, few turnaround or pullover spots, and loose rocks. I made it up just fine with my small honda civic coupe, I just drove slowly and carefully. Didn't care about getting potential scratches from branches on the side of the road, the car is 14 years old lol. I was nervous about driving on the forest road to the trailhead after reading recent reports, but I did it!
The Bugs: Lots of flies that started appearing past Independence Lake. I got 2 mosquito bites (one through my pants!) Up near North lake the bugs were very annoying. We sat down to eat at the ridge and the flies swarmed us. They were non-biting flies, but flew in my nose, ears, and eyes a few times.
The Trail: several blowdowns of trees and branches and some loose rocks. Nothing I couldn't manage though, just proceeded slowly and carefully.
The Snow: Patches of snow started appearing around 3500-4000ft. I forgot my hiking poles and micro spikes.I should have thought of those things considering the time of year and elevation. Oops. I found 2 walking branches I used as "poles". I slipped a few times, but no injuries. Be very careful. We didn't get close to North lake because I had enough of going up/down in the snow without being prepared well enough.
Total time hiking was about 4.5 hours.
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