The dirt road was rough in some spots but our sedan could manage it. I had to get out twice to check for clearance, but we carefully made through it.
There was a mudslide 0.5 miles to the trailhead, so we parked there and walked. There wasn’t much space to park but when we got back, we saw 2 more cars. One parked at the pullout spot which’s now also double as a u-turn spot as well because of the slide. The other car parked at the next pullout about a 100 feet away.
We crossed the pile of trees, logs, and rock slide and started toward the trailhead. There was a privy still opened about 0.2 miles in. It was a cloudy day, so we didn’t expect much. The trail was rocky, roots, and muddy in places but not problematic for us. There’s an exposed pit toilet and a campground at Independence Lake. From there the trail shoots mostly straight up toward North Lake. We enjoyed the peeks of sunshine once in awhile as we got higher up. About half a mile to North Lake, it was more challenging to navigate because of the snow. We put on the crampons and pushed on just to a big rocky area where we could enjoy the sun and had snacks. We could partially see the lake from there but decided to turn around instead.
Overall if you enjoy solitude, this would be it with still pretty views to enjoy.
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