My morning started with a 2:45am alarm, 3am breakfast, and carpool at 4:15am. We arrived at the parking lot about 5:30am and it was almost full already. Hit the trails at 5:45am and the weather was perfect, a bit chilly but comfortable. We started shedding layers about a half mile in. This trail had incredible scenery and much of the way from the trailhead to Ice Saddle is along running water and basically a nice walk in the woods. Ice Saddle is where the work starts. It is all uphill from here and is about 2.4 miles to the peak, but the last 100 yards was brutal! It seemed to go on forever, but the view made it all worthwhile. Going back down was easy once you got back past Ice Saddle, just a pleasant downhill shady stroll, but you will be tired of walking on rocks after this hike. I found myself excited for the patches of dirt trail, which were few and far between. Overall, amazing hike!