What would you bring if you were to hike a very white Muir Trail corridor this July and planned to go up on a few higher peaks along the way (e.g. Black Giant, Mt Barnard) where big ass snow fields at steep angles clearly go beyond normal boots and pole action.
Full crampons and ice axe? Lots of weight, but may also come in handy on the regular passes in the early mornings.
Relying on regular hiking poles and some half-backed strap-on traction devices just don't sound like the tools I want to rely on when the snow gets steeper than 30 degrees.
Then there's always the option to leave the peaks be and focus on the deep water crossings and bring some crocs and floatation devices instead
