Group of 3: started hiking at the willow creek trailhead just after 8 am on Saturday April 25th. Trail was summer conditions most of the way to willow lake, apart from a short ~100 ft. of switchback elevation that was covered in snow around mile 4, and one flat section of snow crossing a scree shoot at 4.25 miles where there was a set of tracks b-lining the summer trail. The summer trail remains closer in the middle of the valley and as such the winter option was slightly above treelike briefly. Saw one party camping at the willow lake campground as we crossed through around 11 am. After circumnavigating the lake we reached the far end of it and began the climb to challenger ridge. The first few hundred vertical were patchy with snow, and the summer trail was fairly easy to find and follow at least loosely, there were high winds this day, and so we leaned climbers left opting for more wind protection vs. following the summer route religiously. After a while of traversing short snow slopes and navigating across rocks, we attained the ridge at 13,800, essentially at its terminus to the north. We decided to leave the summer trail at roughly 12,800 ft., where it jumps left and b-lines challenger point at its crux--essentially it was almost entirely covered with snow, and due to it being a cold and cloudier day, the snow was pretty firm and icy in places. We then traversed the backside (West facing slopes) of challenger ridge until we met the summer trail, which we then followed more or less, while also sticking high on the ridge -10ft for wind protection. we reached the summit of Challenger Point just before 3pm as a result of more intricate route finding needed to attain the ridge. Nonetheless, it was a great summit with panoramic views of the Sangre de Cristos, the sand dunes, and the next goal: Kit Carson. We took our time doglegging down to the notch between challenger and Kit Carson, where we got up close with what we had been fearing--the ledge route across the face of Kit Carson was virtually covered in feet of snow, and the slope angle was aggressive. After discussing our options, one party member, with the aid of microspikes and poles was able to pick their way through it and successfully summited KC at 4pm. The final gulley to the summit block was super clear with some small snow patches easily avoidable. After meeting up, as a group we picked our way up to the ridge of challenger once again, and after attempting to drop down earlier on the summer trail, decided it was of vanity and backtracked to our original path up. We made it down to the top of willow lake, where the trails converge around last light (8:30). After several miles of type 2 fun in the dark, we made it back to the car at willow lake TH shortly after 11, stopping periodically to make it back in a somewhat presentable state. Overall a very long day mostly due to route finding, but we are always grateful when it's possible to hike the Sangres in April. Day tripped from Denver metro, so was a 4am to 3 am block...