Owen Creek trail starts off following a canyon right away on good trail.

I've always wanted to go to Michelle Lakes since I saw these photos: http://dreamingoutdoors.zenfolio.com/blog/2012/2/GDT
I'd planned a longer trip, but being solo and therefore without motivation to ascend a mountain, it made no sense to go to Cataract Pass just yet.
As well, I got to skip out on hitchhiking back to my car when I met some extremely nice people who let me drive their car from Sunset Pass parking lot to Owen Creek. It helped them out as well. So happy about that!
Its an amazingly scenic area, but it generally lacks trail. Not for the inexperienced backpacker.