Long drive to the trailhead made the late start seem even later, already four other cars parked when the pup and I arrived. It was sunny like the weather forecast had indicated.
First portion of the road had seen enough foot traffic, just microspikes would do. We stayed on the road for an eighth of a mile or so before making our way up the slope to gain the southeast ridge. There was more snow on the ridge and snowshoes would benefit most people. I kept my microspikes on, at times followed what looked like tracks from earlier in the day.
Northwest wind was blowing the entire time, which made the slope and ridge traverse rather uncomfortable. Partly weather took a turn just before the final approach on the south face. The wind blew stronger and it brought in snow from the west. Perfect timing for not getting the views I had hoped for.
We took refuge on the east side of the summit rocks, waited 20 minutes before the wind died down and the snowing stopped. About a 10-minute window with some views, just enough time to get some photos before the clouds rolled in with more snow.
Strong wind continued as we made our way down, with snow flying in all directions and visibility extremely poor. By now our old tracks had already been covered by the new snow, so I put on snowshoes to speed things up to get off the mountain.