
| This might have been my least favorite summit trip of the year. The forest duff on the first half of the standard route above the road was very slick and sloppy... one step forward, two steps back... some of the worst such forest duff I have ever encountered. The ridgetop was very sloppy snow, too, and I had to alternate between snowshoes and crampons. I seemed to consistently be either sinking or slipping. Low clouds completely obstructed any outward views, and the clouds only dissipated after I got back to the car. Perhaps other climbers have had or will have better luck with weather and conditions.
For me, the only redeeming parts of this summit trip were getting 4000' of cumulative elevation gain and having a fairly quick descent (largely due to steep, slick forested slopes). |