5 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
After several plan changes on the way, my dad and I hiked up on Silcox Hut trail (that branches up from Timberline Trail) and then followed ski lift uphill to about 8600' when the trail ended. I was surprised how easy it was - it seems I could physically do the other half way to the summit (not sure if I can do it technically, since I never used crampons, ax and such). It was windy and pretty cold, but the weather was beautiful; a lenticular cloud even tried to form over the mountain. We hiked just above the upper ski lift building, and then decided to hike-glissade our way down ski area rather than hiking on scree (the lifts were stopped by then and nobody skiing already). It worth to note it became icy around 8,500'.
