Ruth Mountain, Hannegan Pass and Peak — Thursday, Jul. 17, 2025

The road to Hannegan pass trailhead is in very good condition there are a few large potholes that could wake up anyone who is not paying attention, but they are easily avoided. When I arrived at the trailhead at 4:30am the parking lot nearer to the trailhead was almost full. The wildflowers on the top half of the Hannegan pass trail are in prime or near prime condition, I arrived at the pass at just after 6:30. The gully leading to the traverse around pt 5930 was muddy and wet with a runoff stream running down it, this stream is coming off a snowfield above the gully and is the last running water on route. The traverse is nearly melted out, but there are a couple lingering snowfields that will probably be gone in a week or so. Ruth Arm is snow free until just below the glacier, I wore running shoes up until this point. I put my boots on and started up the glacier which is still in good condition. Snow conditions on the way up were very good, firm enough to kick secure steps, but no crampons necessary. There are a few small crevasses just starting to open up, however they are not particularly close to the route. I reached the summit of Ruth Mt. at 10:02am. I had originally planned on traversing to Icey peak, but it was already getting hot and I wasn't moving as fast as I'd hoped. So instead I scouted out the descent towards Icey for a future visit and took a 20-30 minute break on the summit before heading down. On the way down the snow on the upper half of the glacier was still fairly firm and the snow on the lower half had softened up nicely for plunge stepping. I arrived back at the trailhead just after 2:30pm for a car to car time of 10 hours 1 minute. Gear brought and used running shoes, boots, ice axe, trekking poles, helmet.