*If anyone finds a burgundy glove, please message me!

Trail was in good condition. Muddy in some spots but not too bad. In the last days of the golden larches though. Took us around 6 hours to do car to car. A grinder for sure! Basically a Stairclimb to the top.

Late October storms rolling in over the high country. I was fooled by what Harvey Manning called a sucker hole. I did bring emergency supplies, bivy extra clothes, but I forgot gloves and my hands got quite chilled when I reached the col up to Mount Maude. The larches in Leroy Basin are incredible but nature flicked a switch going from blue skies to whiteout conditions and maybe 4 fresh inches in the basin within 20 minutes. The Leroy Basin Trail is about as gnarly as ever with unrelenting steepness, but Phelps was overgrown as well and the trees dumping loads of cold water on me as I ascended tested my rain gear limits. I wouldn’t recommend the high route to Maude right now due to the loose slippery rocks and fresh snow. I bailed on connecting to Carne as the way I took up was still fresh. I nearly used my bivy due to the snow and cold to wait a bit but decided to make a hasty retreat to the car in case the weather got worse which it may have. I got up to Freezer Pass and the ice lakes were already socked in and the snow suddenly fell hard.
The descent down Leroy is always difficult made more so with increased route finding through snow and a mini river flowing down the trail. It’s hard to pick up the correct spur when all the trails are covered I found the potty and all the camps before I found the right path. Colors are gorgeous but I imagine Carne got a bit of snow as well snow line was maybe down to 4000 feet. Good reminder to be careful and pack the ten essentials. 

The Road

Big thank you to the crews that made improvements to the road. I drove it before a month and a half ago and it was high clearance only, now I think any sedan should be able to make it with careful driving. Much smoother and faster drive now.

Parking

I saw reports about parking being out of hand here. And while I came early on a weekday I saw some lingering aftermath from the weekend. Namely one Subaru literally just parked in the road, no effort to even be on the side. This is dangerous, and also don't be shocked if your car gets scratched up if you park like this. People need to be able to pass safely. If there is not room to park you need to go elsewhere, the road is not parking.

I arrived at the trailhead at 6:15 am. Only 5 other cars in the lot. One other person arrived at the same time.

The Trail

The trail is surprisingly easy for the gain, it does not feel like 3500 ft of climbing. Nicely graded. However there are a few parts of the lower trail that are eroding. Some work to shore up some areas is needed, as it's easy to slip and plants will get damaged if this continues without support.

I got to the summit and had it all to myself for an hour before others arrived. The views are amazing and the changing clouds made for great photography.

On the way down I encountered maybe 40-50 people. All seem to have arrived around 7-8 am. Not too crowded, especially compared to the weekends from what it seems.

Back at the lot there were cars parked ¼ mile down from the lot. Again, please use the lower lot parking and do not block the road. The road edge is soft here and passing can be made dangerous if there is not enough room.

Also please observe good driving etiquette and use the turnouts to let cars pass. I was stuck behind a car that refused to pull over despite going extremely slow because they had to negotiate potholes, they had ample opportunities to use many safe pullouts to move but refused. This backs up traffic on these dirt roads. Why do you have a subaru if you are going to drive it like it's a low riding sedan? Please learn forest road etiquette and observe it before driving a road like this.

This is probably the last week for colors, it looks like the weather is changing so I wouldn't expect the larches to be good next week, the wind was already blowing away the needles.

Overall great pretty solitary experience at this trail.

Got to the trailhead around 9am & got a spot just outside the lot. Note: no bathroom at the trailhead! The larches are perfect right now! I was surprised how few people we saw on the trail — larches without a crowd! Only a handful of folks at the summit. It was so so beautiful — more larches than I’ve seen on the 3 most popular trails. This trail is all UP & then all DOWN — 3600 ft gain in 4-ish miles (we clocked 8.5 miles total) — my thighs are singing today! 360 mountain views from the summit. We saw a couple pikas on the way up. Totally worth the effort! The roughest part of the road has been fixed, but there is still a very rocky section and some washboard, but it’s totally manageable in any car. 

Looks like the last nice day in the alpine for a while so we had to squeeze in one more good larch hike. This next week brings lots of rain & snow so any condition reports will no longer be relevant going forward. A few backpacking groups were on their way up today which always makes me wonder if they didn't check the weather, or just don't care.

The road is excellent now on that last stretch up to the trailhead after recent work, but the other 80% is still rocky and terrible. Take it easy and have lots of patience. Good tires and moderate ground clearance required.

Trail was quiet today compared to the huge weekend crowds this area sees during prime larch season, maybe 15 or so groups we saw/passed all day. Many had dogs. This is a tough steep hike at 3600 vert but with big visual reward. Once you reach the meadow with water & camping options, you forget all about the physical suffering.