Tried to head into Lightning Lake Oct 3 morning, to cook breakfast at a picnic table (I had neglected to bring the car camp table thinking surely we would get a spot at one of the car camping sites - nope).
The cars were parked on the side of the road all the way out to the junction where the stop sign is, never seen it so busy. We immediately turned around and drove up the hill to Cascade lookout, where there was nobody. So I cooked up a bunch of bacon and eggs at the viewpoint. It was warmer than the valley, with an awesome view.