I did an overnight from Fri 5/14-Sat 5/15. Lollipop from South Fork via Dollar Lake-Skyhigh trail-DryLake-back out.
This was my first time approaching from south fork.
Day #1: Did most of the hike (approx 15 miles) to camp at Dry Lake. It was very dry and exposed pretty much the whole time, but especially from the Dry/Dollar lake split up to SG. I carried 3 liters of water and was glad I did. Arduous trek up. Some patches of slushy snow on the trail around 9700 feet just past Dollar Lake. Microspikes not needed nor useful. Passable with trekking poles and caution. Several more patches of the same slushy snow along the trail coming down the switchbacks toward mineshaft saddle, around 10,500 feet.
Dry lake looked like a meadow with a swamp to me. I would not use it for water. There was a good flow of water at Lodgepole spring. I easily filled several liters. Not sure how clean it is, so I filtered. I suspect it will dry up soon, though. As far as I know, I was the only person camped at Dry Lake that night. Total solitude.
Day #2: From Dry Lake back to car/South fork trailhead. Lots of water and people. Didn’t need any water, though, since I had plenty and it’s less than 6 miles. If you do this loop and there is no water at lodgepole, I suspect that, in a bind, you can hike 0.5-1 miles on the dry lake trail and get water from the creek there. It looks like it will continue to flow for a little while longer.
Overall, great trip! Thank you to everyone else who posted updates before I set off on my hike 🙂
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