Date of Hike:2/01/15
Trail Conditions: Packed snow all the way.
Special Equipment Required: Microspikes, Crampons recommended and Ice ax on the snowfields.
Comments: Calm until Madison Hut. Some wind heading up to Star Lake and then mostly calm up Star Lake trail. Star Lake trail had some recent traffic otherwise it would have been hard to follow. It is 2/3 hard crust. There are some steep snowfields with hard crust that have to be traversed. I went across with MSR Denalis and came back with Hillsound microspikes and it was very dicey if I had crampons I would definitely have put them on and had my ax out. Kahtoolas would have been even scarier. There is a fairly long run off with boulders at the base so a misstep could be painfull. We were entirely sheltered from the NW wind. I stopped just short of the summit but Hiker Lady summited and met folks coming up Airline and it much windier. As we headed down, the winds were picking up. There were two folks heading up with snowshoes, the clothes on their back and hydration packs.
Your name: Peakbagger
Trail Conditions: Packed snow all the way.
Special Equipment Required: Microspikes, Crampons recommended and Ice ax on the snowfields.
Comments: Calm until Madison Hut. Some wind heading up to Star Lake and then mostly calm up Star Lake trail. Star Lake trail had some recent traffic otherwise it would have been hard to follow. It is 2/3 hard crust. There are some steep snowfields with hard crust that have to be traversed. I went across with MSR Denalis and came back with Hillsound microspikes and it was very dicey if I had crampons I would definitely have put them on and had my ax out. Kahtoolas would have been even scarier. There is a fairly long run off with boulders at the base so a misstep could be painfull. We were entirely sheltered from the NW wind. I stopped just short of the summit but Hiker Lady summited and met folks coming up Airline and it much windier. As we headed down, the winds were picking up. There were two folks heading up with snowshoes, the clothes on their back and hydration packs.
Your name: Peakbagger
