I'll just keep this thread going rather than start a new one....
We got back from the trail Saturday night (03/17) having not completed the whole route. It's wise to say that the hiking season for this trail is December through February as temps hit 107 degrees on the way out. The worked through the trail from the East trailhead and Panther Springs before having to call it off due to heat exhaustion. The good news is that the trail has been cleaned of a lot of overgrowth up to Panther Springs and the park service has installed some blazes in areas where navigation is troublesome.
A trip report has been posted on backpacker.com for those interested:
http://forums.backpacker.com/eve/for...9/m/3581054852
Pictures of the hike between the east trailhead and Panther Springs are here:
