Well... this one was humbling. We get to the trailhead at 11:00 a.m. because the gates opened at 9:00 and we didn't get to the gates until 10:00. So by 11:00, the snow was already turning to slush. I had done this hike twice in the years before but I got a very early start when the park was no longer closing the gates to the entrance at night. The park is no longer closing the gates but be sure to have your National Parks Pass in order to park for this hike. So anyhow, we took snowshoes with us and noticed immediately that there was no true defined trail. The popularity of this trail has exploded and so had the trail. Be sure you know where you are going and take a trail map with you as it could be easy to get a little lost at first.
We got to the glissading chute about an hour and a half into the hike and it was very hard to hike up. For the four miles up to Camp Muir, the snow was loose and slushy so it truly added a difficult dynamic to the hike. It took us five hours to get to Camp Muir! I hike on a weekly basis and trail often, but because we started so late, we really struggled. I am being a bit over dramatic about this as it's a wonderfully beautiful hike but I'm not sure if I had just been eating too many doughnuts lately but this time I could feel that the air was thinner. We stumbled down the mountain for the entire 4 miles to the parking lot. Take tons of water: we ran out. Take sun block and take a bible, you might need Jesus on this one!
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