Looking at doing this loop and staying at spruce grove over night. Neither of us have done it before but partner has done trails around the area and stayed at hoegees. Any suggestions what time we should get to the trail head? He said from the trail it took him an hour to get to hoegees and that's about half way to spruce. We know parking sucks and get there early but we also don't want to get to the site at 11 am for an overnight. Suggestions?

I have read about this trip in Backpacking CA from the Wilderness Press. Parking is supposed to be really bad on weekends so go early like you said. I would get to camp ASAP to get a spot, set up and then explore the area. It seems that sites can fill up fast according to what I was reading.