Watersprite Still With Heaps of Snow
Can't beat a bug-free, spring hike with Cousteau, high in the mountains. It's incredible seeing Cousteau set such a blistering pace, literally tow me up snowy inclines, and effortlessly conquer every obstacle along the way - at a sprightly eight years of age.
Reaching the trail head is certainly a task for a proper high clearance vehicle with AT tires. As others have discovered, there a fair number of territorial grouse looking to pick a fight with anything or anyone. Despite an ominous looking dark sky throughout most of the day, only a few drops of precipitation fell during the descent. Still quite a bit of snow in the last kilometre, and it will probably be there for another month at least. Though the snow was incredibly soft and not overly challenging, hauling the snowshoes was still definitely worthwhile. Will need to make a summer trip to see the lake thawed.
Can't reinforce how important it is to approach any trip into the backcountry with an adequate level of preparation. I don't like being judgmental, but there were a few parties encountered along the trail with visibly inadequate clothing for the elevation - and bags far too small for the ten essentials.