Only other thing I can think of adding is; If you get there
just as the trailhead has melted out and you have the right gear (as you probably know, many people wear cotton and tennis shoes), you can get in some excellent glissading on the way back down. Last year was the best time I have had hiking in a long time, due to the excellent day and the glissading back down. You can actually see my gaiter'd leg at about 2:35 in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXowSUAnNwI also have a picture somewhere of that guy who's filming taking a pic of the chipmunk, I'll see if I can find it anywhere.