It was a brisk morning arriving at the trail head just after 6 am. However prior to hitting the trail. I locked my gear inside of my truck, along with the keys…. it took a miracle. After almost an hour being stuck behind at the car park, I managed to get my door opened!! Started at 7:15 am and by 9:15 I was already at the saddle. At this point I started to notice the huge but random gusts of wind that would move through and around the trees. After stopping by for a brief 30 minutes having eating and stretched it was time to get back to business. The sun felt great when you were able to catch what came between the limbs of the towering trees that covered the distance. While following my GPS and ensuring I was keeping to trail, stumbled to find camp Kelly buried under feet of snow. The only thing that stuck out were the top 3-4 inches of a wooden sign post. Took a quick breather before making a push to the ridge. Time was 10:44 am. The trees opened up and out came a stunning snow capped valley just below the ridge. By now I’m starting to see the two hikers cutting through snow attempting to make trail where it once was. I managed to catch up and introduce myself to the pair, and we became a group. Then Ero, Hailey, her dog Bailey and myself battled head strong winds and deep snow all 2 miles to the peak. We arrived at the peak at 12:35, and surprised to have meet with another hiker. It was terrific, even though it had to be top 10 hardest hikes it just made reaching the summit so much better. After getting some time to let the harsh winds to die down a bit, eat chow, hydrate and stretch ourselves in the warmth of the sun. We took our photos and made our claim, and we started our descent. Time was 14:15. The way down as always seems too soon and the further down we go the reality of our leaving sets in. Now making quick haste to reach the bottom before dark. Singing and sliding down the snowy slopes back towards the saddle. We took a quick break there at 16:05  and before we it got too dark we were back at cars. Finish time was 17:45.