Photos from this trip can be found here.
First time on this 7-mile rt trail. The previous three times were on the 14-mile rt service road/scramble route. The route is much faster and comparable to that of Mailbox Peak in terms of steepness and elevation gain per mile.
There had been enough foot traffic on the hiker’s path that we didn’t need to break trail. We brought our snowshoes but never used them, the tracks took us all the way up southwest ridge and to the summit.
The weather wasn’t decent, mostly cloudy with high clouds so views were all-around. By the time this report is posted there may very well be more snow on the trail, so bring snowshoes just in case.