Cooked, scratched, bitten, bruised,... just plain punished.
Never hike a trail that the Western Wilderness Committee has abandoned. They just never pan out.
I tried this trail 6 years ago and never even found the right trail. This time, the trail was WAY more overgrown and a complete bushwhack.
The road was hell and even a Pathfinder couldn't get to the closest area to park but Chris's Suzuki turned out to be be perfect so we shuttled the last 7km. In fact, that was the best part of the trip, I love that little truck! We still had to hike a few extra km of dense slide alder.
It was 30+ degrees and I was out fo shape and unfortunately slowed my whole group down. I overdid it in the first hour (dense bushwhacking) and never recovered making me increasingly slow on the rougher terrain,.. all I can say is thanks for everyone's help, they knew I was on a mission and never suggested turning back. This was a wake-up call, I'm not in the shape I was last year.
You should never do this trail,.. but if somehow you have to,.. don't bother going past the first view of the pass,.. it is just hours of anguish for absolutely nothing. Chances are this road will not be usable very soon (and I'm ok with that,.. let it become wilderness again),... instead spend your time to do Seed Peak.. a way better option.
This was #102 of my effort to trail bag 103 Hikes, and ranked up there as one of the worst trails, and certainly one of the worst experiences for me.