The road is open after the fire in 2019 or 2020, but it has deep ditches in it. Only high clearance vehicles can make it to the closed gate below the trailhead. We parked down at Elk Lake trailhead just before the really bad ditches section. That left 3.92 miles and 2750 gain to the lookout site. We decided to do it as an overnight. Since there is no water up there, we each hauled five liters plus our usual overnight gear. It was a slog. Someone has improved the trailhead so trail is visible and safe and brushed out and sawed out downfall on lower part. Still if you don't feel confident about narrow trails not in best shape with long dropoffs on one side, this is not the trail for you. You will need navigation skills and gaia to show where trail should go in places where you cannot see it. Sometimes best to just follow the ridge if you can't see the trail. It was mostly visible and in some places good. There is one tiny flat spot just before lookout site for camping. It was super buggy at the time we did it - July 1-2, 2023. Some decent views and a lot of flowers. Lots of debris makes it an interesting site. It is an adventure!