Our group summited last Thursday, 6/18 at about 8:30 in the morning.
We took four days to do the whole thing so as to not rush it, take our time acclimating, etc. As others have stated, the trail all the way up to Trail Camp was clear of snow. It was a gorgeous hike, and we spent our first night at Outpost Camp, hanging out with a deer and enjoying the waterfall. The trek up to Trail Camp was quite exhausting but again, absolutely gorgeous.
We left Trail Camp at midnight on Thursday morning, hoping to make the summit by sunrise. The cable section of the switchbacks was icy and therefore a bit terrifying in the dark, but we powered through. The backside had some snow and I was very glad we had microspikes. In all the reading I've done about this hike, I was surprised I haven't seen more about that fact that portions of this are NOT for the feint of heart. A few of us crawled across the snow at several spots, but we made it up to the top - later than expected, but still very much worth the view.
We headed back down about 9:30am and while the snow on the backside was still firm, the water wasn't just running in the switchbacks, it was GUSHING. The cable section was much less terrifying in the daylight, and we had a smooth descent back to Trail Camp, heading back the rest of the way to the portal on Friday morning.
There were plenty of people doing this without spikes, and some without poles, but if you're a little uneasy on your feet they definitely help, and we felt much more confident having them. We're sore and exhausted but this was well worth the experience and given the recent weather, I imagine the snow will continue to melt rather quickly. Thank you to everyone on this forum for the great updates!
