Got a 5:30 a.m. start from Denny Creek. Picked up the first few patches of snow after the Brown's Pass turnoff. In the meadows after the log bridge crossing at 11,200 the trail becomes hard to follow. Some have snowshoed straight across the meadow and up Yale from this point. I followed the Delaney Gulch stream (take a hard left at the bridge and hug the stream) and was able to find the trail again after the 2nd meadow. It was a combination of snow and dirt with a few crotch deep post holes. The switchbacks are all snow free as you make the push to treeline. Once above the treeline it was snowshoes to the summit, passing a few snow slides, including a decent size one of about 70 yards. After a 10:00 summit the trip down was fine at first and became very mushy about half way between the summit and treeline. I glissaded the first part and then slogged the rest. Under the treeline it was pretty significant postholing and some wet, slushy conditions until back on the snowless path. I took spikes, but never put them on.
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