I've hiked all over the world and this is one of the top 5 hikes I've ever done.  It's incredibly peaceful and beautiful.  I highly recommend registering online with the Los Coyotes tribe (link is in the trail guide or you can Google it) before going.  If you don't do it before hand, you have to wait at the entrance until one of the Tribal Police arrives.  Even though the office opens at 8AM, they can be out patrolling and then you're stuck until someone comes back.  Also, if you register in advance, they're expecting you and will greet you by name.  I found this very charming, especially since I was hiking alone!

Almost all of the elevation gain is in the 1st 2 miles and it's pretty intense.  For now, that part is relatively snow free so that helps.  After that, the trail levels out but is 100% covered in snow.  It's doing that freeze/thaw thing where there are large portions of sheer ice.  I HIGHLY recommend doing this with spikes or going very slowly.  There are also many downed trees on the trail so you have to do some offroading, which I couldn't have imagined doing without my spikes.