Followed @Wild Side's June 19 post and biked the wagon road, fun to do a bike/hike. To get to the start of the wagon road drive about .7 miles on the gravel road past Barlow Pass to a clear trailhead on the right, although I don't think the sign there says anything about going to Monte Cristo. Another note, if you take this route you'll hit a T intersection in roughly 2 miles, go left here.
The trail to Glacier Basin is very brushy at first, then opens up a little. The rope isn't really necessary, I thought the sketchiest section was early on when the side hill was washed out and you have a short stint with a steep dropoff to one side.
The creek is always within earshot on the way up but you don't get near it until the climb flattens out, a little frustrating on a hot day. Lots of berries on the trail but the ones we tried still need about a week to sweeten up. The basin is spectacular, we just peeked in but you could spend some quality time roaming around here.
Since we were biking much of the way I thought this would be relatively easy but it really was a tough one, the persistent rough trail and steep elevation takes its toll. Do bring more water than you think you'll need, we were all out by the time we got back to the car.
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