On June 9, there's still quite a bit of snow above 10,500 feet, particularly in the shade of the denser trees. By this point I had decided I was about two weeks too early to be hiking this high as the trail was very wet where not covered with snow. I guessed this was part of the reason I hadn't seen many other people, this and the fact that the trailhead is 10 miles from the paved highway. It's quite different from Eagles Nest Wilderness where many of the trailheads are mere minutes from I-70 and where you'll typically see lots of people on the trails. I pressed on.