I’ll concur that this is a lovely trip – one we’ve often done as a family or directed friends to take. Planning 183 days in advance and booking USFS cabins make a pretty cushy trip – no need to carry a tent and you can go lighter on the clothing since you can get it dried out, maybe even washed, every night. I’ve also done it as a rather grueling day hike – 38 miles end to end, after setting up a car shuttle or having a friend drop me at the far end.
We’ve also partially bounced it from each end. That can be even easier with a 2-night stay at a cabin, say, 7 or 11 miles in. Get in to the cabin, set up for two nights, day hike on from there with a lunch and shell.
It’s rare for me to do the whole thing and not see at least one bear – black or brown, when I’m solo*. The bears are pretty well trained along there and aren’t particularly surprised to encounter a human. And, I’ve trained our older dog to return to me and alert me to people or critters ahead, so we can stand aside for a minute and not surprise anyone/thing else.
*solo hikers are FAR quieter than a family and therefore see more wildlife. It’s impossible for a family of 5 to hike without making a racket, so they never know how much wildlife moved off the trail a minute before they got there (unless the poop is stilling steaming).
PM if you’re looking for some trail angel magic here – it doesn’t take much to entice me to take a day hike in conjugation with setting up a car shuttle at each end.
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