In the morning the muddy marsh around 12000 feet was all frozen over and easy to cross. The trail is snow free until you reach the top of the first false summit around 14000 feet. From there on, much of the trail is covered in 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow. On the way down as the snow and mud were warming up, conditions became slick, so microspikes were helpful. On the way back the muddy marsh was completely melted but it was easy enough to skirt around most of the mud. This muddy area was probably 300 feet in length.
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