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AlexeyD wrote:

PCT_Serge wrote: Alexey - thank you very much for your detailed advice. The idea of doing the loop in counter clockwise direction is the most valuable and much appreciated, thank you. Devils thumb pass was my main concern, and I believe having a visual estimation of it's current cornice condition will be a deciding factor weather we should just turn around and call it a day. Definitely having a clear visibility will be one of the main factors as well. Will be hoping the weather will hold up.

My pleasure! One more quick note about Devils Thumb Pass. The route you'll want to take (i.e. safest) is the one shown in google maps (terrain) - not the USGS.

Yes, that's confirmed! I will try to avoid The Devils Thumb Pass and try to take the route to the south of it. Thank you!

Hi All,

Just wanted to thank everyone for providing their advice and opinions on our planned route and it's current conditions!

We were able to successfully do the loop on early Thursday morning and return on Friday afternoon. Physically, the route felt extremely difficult because of the deep snow. After 11AM, we were potholing sometimes knee deep in our snowshoes, but the climb to the top of the ridge felt super firm with an ice axe planted in deep snow. Going counterclockwise was a very good suggestion, thanks Alex. Descending down to the King Lake was a bit confusing as there were few snow cornices and it was hard to tell where it was safe to descend, so we end up scrambling down on the rocks on the south side of the ridge before connecting with CDT. We camped at King lake, but It was hard getting water since the lake is completely frozen. The route was covered in snow and 90% of the way we had to use GPS to navigate the trail as there were no other snow tracks.

Few photos from our trip! Cheers everyone!