Found: Right Edelrid Lime Green Crampon. Comment if you're missing one! I'll hold onto it for a bit. 

📍 Trail Information

• Permit Required?: Yes. Interestingly permits are limited by number of groups, not group size. We were able to add on a couple additional members to our group the day-of and paid at the ranger station when picking up our permits.

• Bear canisters are given out by the ranger station when you go to pick  up your permits. Our group of 11 got allotted 3 canisters since they were running low. At camp, we built (then broke down at the end) a little marmot-proofing shelter for our food that wouldn't fit in the canisters, which seemed to work as nothing got in. If you're worried about varmints I would suggest bringing a canister from home as there are no trees to sling up food at any of the campsites.

🌤 Conditions

• Weather: Sunny all 3 days. Snow got soft around 10am, perfect for crampons. We camped at the lower camp area that overlooks Johannesburg Mountain, and did not feel pressured to summit by any particular time.

• Trail Conditions: Super obvious bootpack once you get to the snowy sections. Easily avoidable crevasses, only one notable one we put protection in for really. Route finding was a little bit interesting on the way down the boulderfield but we found our way without much effort by following the cairns. Rest of the trail was great. River was super low for the initial river crossing, you could honestly wade through it and it would only come up to your mid-shin. On the trail, we encountered about 6 different types of berries, all in abundance!

• Water Availability: Streams running through all 3 common camp areas.

• Bugs/Wildlife: Some, but easily dealt with with bug spray.

🥾 Gear & Logistics

• Gear Highlights: Crampons / ice ax needed, would recommend ropes and pickets if you're with a less-experienced group. We saw several teams of 2 make it up without roping up. No ice screws needed but we did summit around 2pm, so if you're summiting earlier it might be good to just bring 1 or 2.

fairly rugged trail, lots of loose, steep dirt, boulders, just gnarly in the first mile -think mailbox old trail.

boulder field wasn't too ba, butthere'ss a trail that comes and goes on climbers right.It'lll save some knee pain on the way down. can be hard to find, and some overgrown areas can make it difficult.

after boulderfield, you're greeted by a huge open area with spectacular views and some wildlife for the last half mi to ridge.

going down ridge and back up with a heavy pack was rough, bu there was lots of solid rock for hands and feet.

slept before glaicer on some flat rock areas with great water souces.

climb to glaicer fairly easy we stayed on rock till we couldn't anymore. glaicer was mellow.

reached high camp and some rangers there gave us some good beta, we quickly transitioned from snow to rock and theres a faint trail on rocky ridge area. some weird moves. we continued on rock until last maybe .10 of mi (after the 4 mini van sised crevasses)

got up to knifes edge, and slowly made our way to summit.

10/10 views, no good water sources for first 1.5mi or so but plenty once you get out of boulderfield.

Beautiful climb with wonderful views. Only downside is the amount of effort required to summit. Took us about twelve hours roundtrip. We had a late start a 9 am and arrived back at our car at 9 pm. 

Lost my iPhone around the peak; $100 finders fee. Bring it into service and charge so I can get a hold of you.

Trail was fairly steep. Boulders field were deceptively long on descent. Paucity of cairns around the bottom of the field. Thus, I would encourage remembering your line. There were a lot of mosquitoes and horse flies. Required a dangerous decline to pass the ridge. Bring gardener gloves to facilitate this section and your descent down the boulder fields. Would recommend snow paraphernalia and an ice axe at the very least. Knife’s edge was very intimidating. Rope up (the crevasse that kills you is the one you don’t see). Path up is marked by distinct footprints in the snow. Other than the boulders, trail is runnable on the way back down (if your knees permit). Bring water filtration to lighten the load.

Best,
David