Beautiful and very sunny/bright day out in MRNP for Steamboat Prow and Mount Ruth -- notes below:
Road: the road to Glacier Basin trailhead is open although the White River Campground is closed. The Sunrise road is still closed at this time.
Route: with all the recent warming, some of the snow bridges are starting to melt including the crossing into the Glacier Basin Camp (see photo below) - in the coming weeks, this will likely be more relevant. I opted to remain on the Glacier Basin trail until it intersected the Inter-Glacier Route (as opposed to heading down towards the river (some of the snow pockets are beginning to melt/open up). The Inter Glacier is in good shape now. On my descent, I decided to summit Mount Ruth from the southwest snow adjacent the glacier (as opposed to the ridge transverse) - this does require some elevation loss/re-gain, but avoids the scramble on the transverse (if you want to avoid it). This approach is probably more easily manageable when there is decent snow coverage like now. Once off the snow by Ruth, the scramble was very straightforward to the summit. I then retraced my steps and plunge-stepped back to my route on the Inter Glacier and booted out. Many water sources prior to the Inter Glacier. A group saw a black bear and cubs on path close to the trailhead.
Gear: poles and sun protection (including glacier goggles) were all very helpful. I also used crampons on the Inter Glacier.
Stats: ~12 miles | ~5500 ft gain
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