Friday morning was great! Arrived at the trailhead at 6:45 and there were approximately 8 cars. It was a chilly start (41 degrees) but we warmed up really fast with the climb. We normally hike this the longer route (counter-clockwise) but thought we’d mix it up this time and do the “really steep” Ski Hut” trail. We faced our fears and found out it’s easier to climb the ski hut trail than it is to descend it!

We had the whole summit to ourselves, which is rare. It was very chilly and windy, but so beautiful above the clouds.

The trail was in pretty good shape most of the way, but a little hard to follow around the tree root section (a little way past the rock garden but before climbing the bowl), and about 3/4 miles from the summit – the really sketchy part).