Awesome trip report with epic pictures! I summited first time last summer via Trailcrest and won permits for overnight trip in May so I'm considering doing the Mountaineers route. Having never climbed in icy snowy conditions your post answered a lot of questions about the viability of that route. From what I've read the hardest part is finding your way up/down the area where you got off track a bit but I should be going through there in the daylight so that should help
Thanks for the report!
