I used the Copper glance trail to access the two Craggies for the day. The trail up past the mine and over the hill crest was in good shape. In the morning the snow started about a mile in, but, much of that had melted by the time I came back down in the evening. I would say it is now that time of year to keep the microspikes handy if you are just going to the lake or mine for the day.
Big craggy was easy to climb covered in a light amount of snow. Until reaching around 7000 ft it was only about ankle deep, but, was just enough to take the scree out of the difficulty for the day. Over 7000 was a different story. There were spots where it was waist deep and others where it had melted out and all was just rock. The final ridgeline is well covered in snow at the moment and made for a fantastic finish to the climb.
From the top of big craggy, the traverse route over to West Craggy looked heavily covered in snow. I debated for a few minutes whether I should go for it or not. Ultimately I decided that I couldn't pass on the chance to summit both in one day.
The ridgeline between the two peaks was covered in heavy snow. More than once I found myself waist-deep and digging myself out. In fact, due to the snow cover, it made the traverse the worst part of the entire day. It was tedious and exhausting working through all the powder.
The final gulley to the summit was fairly easy. I would say that with snow it appeared to be far better than it would be mid-summer. The small amount of rock I had to walk on in the area was terrible and slid out from under my feet over and over again.
The best part of the entire day was the final small gulley that I (and the other party on the mountain) used to climb up. It was narrow steep snow and provided a good first snow climb for the day. If you work-around to the left of it there is a far easier way to the summit for those not interested in the steep snow.
I took the Gulley back down to a basin and out to the trail again. The navigation was easy, but the depth of the snow with boulders underneath made for an annoying hour or so.
Altogether a great climb though I will probably never go again. The scrambling was lackluster and the challenge felt a bit underwhelming for being two peaks over 8000 feet.
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