Beautiful hike, but the drive up was very stressful and trailhead was overcrowded. I agree with other reviewers who said the road is difficult. The first chunk of it felt like driving on rumble strips. After that, it got more manageable, but I was glad to be in an SUV. The worst part was how crowded the trailhead was. Cars had parked outside of the lot along the already narrow road for at least a mile leading up to the trailhead. This meant that there was no way for cars to come and go in a safe manner. There's a fairly steep drop-off on one side, and I had to drive within inches of it (with five kids in my car) to get around a big truck coming up the other way. I don't know if there are any solutions to this. I'm not sure if you can prevent people from parking outside of the lot; it isn't large and it's a very popular hiking area. Perhaps it's not so bad if you go any time besides a summer weekend. Lesson learned!
As for the hike itself, gorgeous! And very manageable. We saw pika, marmot, wildflowers, and many stunning views. After getting to the top of Cascade Pass, we did part of the trail toward Sahale to get a view of the alpine lake up there, and that was definitely worth the extra exertion.
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