Alpine Scramble - Crescent Mountain

Bluebird skies and warm temps made for a great trip to Crescent.  It was nice having shade in the morning as we ascend the Northern Loop trail. 

This was an above normal snow year and on this July 8th, the snow started hitting frequent snow at 5200', but the water in the creek where it crosses the trail at 5600' was mostly open.

The north facing slopes up to Crescent were half covered in snow.  The upper / steeper slopes had quite a bit of exposed rock, so we favored that to reduce the risk of slipping on the steep snow, which was actually pretty must perfect for step kicking.  Nobody used any sort of traction devices. 

We discussed looping over to  Tyee on the way back, but burned too much time enjoying the day and the views.  Even without Tyee, we were over 13 hours.