The trail is fine until about 1 mile in, and then it's lost.

We couldn't find it and wandered around for about an hour until we heard some people in the distance who were going straight up in the snow rather than navigating the trail. The terrain was steep, and we definitely needed microspikes and trekking poles. Wish I'd brought gaiters.

More dangerous was the way down as the snow began to melt and get slushy. I spent a ton of time on my butt, sliding out of control. While I was able to self arrest with my feet and hiking poles, an iceaxe and knowledge of how to use it would be helpful.

This should not be attempted by beginners and if you're not super familiar with the trail, I recommend using GPS or AllTrails or better, going with someone who knows the trail very well, as there's no way to navigate the trail by sight.

On the way up we saw people going up without microspikes, and one person was even in tennis shoes. Please be prepared if you go up–you quite honestly could end up seriously injured or worse if you don't.