Just got back from my first attempt to hit the summit. A set of instep crampons got me to about 100' feet from trail crest. All of the switchbacks are filled in with ice and snow and at that point I just kept sliding down. I talked with a few people that had gotten to the summit and they said the roughest part was the crest portion and that it propably could'nt be done without 12 points and ice axes. In the day weather was nice and warm. I got to mirror lake in only an underarmour shirt but it got colder above tree line. Night was obviously freezing. brrr. There is a sign that says "road closed" about 3 miles from the portal store so i parked there but everyone else seemed to be ignoring it. I would advise driving past it as it adds about 6 miles round trip.
