I hiked in from the blue lakes trailhead on 6/17/16, set up camp between the lower and 2nd blue lake, and summited on 6/18/16. There was still lots of snow on the last half mile leading up to lower blue lake, then lots more snow between the first and second lakes. The post-holing was no fun in this section, but the snow is melting fast. From camp, the southwest ridge and blue lake pass looked like a good mix of snow and dry (photo 1). The area around the third lake and the climb up to the pass still had lots of snow (photo 2). I found it much easier to climb straight up the snow than try and follow the switchbacks. Microspikes and an ice axe helped big time. Photo 3 shows the first gully on the ridge from the route description. Photo 4 shows the notch you pass through. Photo 5 shows the gully you climb after the notch and short descent. Photo 6 looks down at lower blue lake from the summit. Photo 7 shows Yankee Boy Basin from the summit. For those reading this in future years, this was a slightly above average snow year with lots of late season (April and May) snow.
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