I'll try and write up something a little more thorough later, but for the fellow weekend-warriors (and beyond) who are heading up the MR anytime soon, these were from this past weekend.
The road was clear, the trail was clear, we almost were tempted to take trail runners (but didn't). Finally hit patchy snow after the creek crossing but there's a lovely boot track.
E-Ledges are completely clear, no issues.
Once you climb out of LBSL, take the track to the slabs and follow them to upper creek crossing at Clyde Meadow/UBSL. Don't try to willow-wallow up the snow in the middle. It will turn into a pity-party of perpetual postholing.
Best. Campsite. Ever.
Getting out of the tent is overrated.
Entire sections of the trail are visible below Iceberg Lake.
Ah, this is vaguely familiar...
Reminds me that I want to come back and climb the East Face or the Buttress again...
<weather window open>
Conditions in the chute were about as good as I've seen them. Nice and firm for kicking steps, and not bad for plunging on the way down. I really debated heading over to the rock for the scramble up to the half-way point, but Bob was doing such a good job of setting a track...
Final 400 and a little bit of new snow:
Let's rock-n-roll, shall we?
Upper and Lower Switchers from the summit:
Sunshine, storm everywhere but here, 15 mph breeze, 0 deg wind chill, and my first summit in 2 1/2 years. Solid...
We took the traverse across the north face back to the Notch to check conditions there. If you have any issues w/ exposed snow faces, this could be a bit freaky. But for now, the boot track is really solid.
It's a long walk down (scree at the top and snow the rest):
<weather window closed>
But she came out one last time to bid us a safe walk home.
All pics can be viewed
here. From the luckiest girl in the world:
It was good to be home.
Climb Hard. Be Safe.
-L
