The lower part of the road up to the turnoff for the hut is packed snow - no flotation or traction needed for this part. One step off the road would put you in 2-3 feet of unconsolidated powder though.
Between the hut and the lower lake, conditions vary from dry spots to thigh-waist deep drifts. Some sections are wind-scoured have thin or no coverage, but every so often I lost the road completely in drifts. I ended up putting on snowshoes for this part just to get through the drifted sections, but the deep spots are short enough that you could probably get by without flotation.
I turned around at the lower lake (around 12k) due to increasing winds, but the photo shows most of the upper part of the route.
The road to the TH is packed snow pretty much the whole way from Hwy 9. Parking was under half full at around 8:30 when I arrived, but only a few spaces were left around noon when I got back. The summer 4WD road is blocked by a snow berm at the end of the parking lot.
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