Silver Star via Burgundy Col. Snow in the valley by Early Winters Creek. Stream crossing manageable, multiple logs can take you across. Finding climbers trail was difficult initially with snow cover. Intermittent snow coverage approaching the col. Went straight up the gulley to the col which is the wrong move, trending left of the col and cutting over is preferred.

Col is incredibly windy. Steep 200ft descent and then rising traverse towards glacier. No crevasses open on route. Class 4 chimney move at the summit is not bad. 

While glacier was in good shape, snow conditions were post hole city 

Climb from the pull-out on the side of Highway 20 to the bench where people camp was easy to follow. There are plenty of switchbacks for an unmaintained climbing trail.

The route becomes far wilder from the camping area to Burgundy Col, and navigation is required in multiple places. I ended up descending the north side of the Col, which I would not recommend. On the way back, I climbed back using the south side, which was far easier.

Silver Star Glacier was in decent shape despite a few crevasses opening up at about the halfway mark. Scrambling up the summit block was around a 3 or a little higher, depending on the route one chooses to take.

Roundtrip with a light pack took me around 8 hours 45 minutes, including a 30-45 minute stay at the summit. Had the entire mountain and route to myself for 90% of the day.

Started around 5 am, parking was fine and there is a bathroom at the start. The trail started out through dead trees due to a wildfire so the first two hours or so was walking through black trees. The trail was hard to navigate but we used the GPS to keep us on track. After the forest there was a rocky area we walked through for about an hour. Then there was a steep incline and the trail led us through a bunch of trees and bushes, we had to use the trees to climb up since the incline was so steep. Then the snow started around halfway through but it was patchy with rocks and a member of our group even slipped a rock down and we had to jump out of the way not to get hit. Then we passed through a small waterfall and walked across a couple more rocks to get to the consistent snow. After that it was your average steep snowy mountain but we put on crampons and used ice axes just in case. After a couple of hours we got to the top of the snowy part but there was still a rocky part at the top to climb up. A few members of our group put a rope up at the top so we used it to climb up, the scrambling was kind of scary if you are not experienced. I wore my harness and tied a knot to secure me to the rope on the way up and then rappelled down the rock face. This is probably more technical then necessary but my dad was teaching a group of mountaineers and this was their practice hike for more severe mountains like Rainer. I saw a couple guys go up without any gear but if you are not experienced at scrambling or rock climbing in general I would not recommend going to the very top. The views were incredible at the top, you could see all the nature and mountains surrounding us and it was incredible. We summited around 12pm. It was kind of chilly and the weather was not so great so we didn't stay at the top for long. The way down we didn't use crampons just an ice axe and sort of ran down, others even slid down on their butt which was fine since there weren't a lot of rocks in the snowy area. Finding the trail on the way down was very hard since it is not clear at all so make sure to bring a GPS if you decide to go because it is easy to get lost. It started raining on our way down so we had to go extra slow because we went left of the trail onto the rocks instead of the trees. Very slippery, I fell about 30 times. Then we started through the burnt down forest and I did not remember it being so long.... The trail was nonexistent and we got lost but just kept going down, everyone was tired and it was raining and I had slush in my boots. Also everyone was covered in charcoal because you have to climb over fallen trees and your hands turn black. Anyways we spent 13 hours on this hike because our group was slow and I am tired. SUMMARY: The trail is very hard to find and a GPS is recommended. Not a beginner level hike, definitely have some experience in the outdoors before hiking this mountain. The views are incredible at the top so it was worth it but be careful scrambling at the top. 

I decided to do a suffer fest this weekend, although most of the suffering had to do with the driving rather than the actual hiking/climbing.

I left Seattle around 1130p on Fri night with just a short nap after work for sleep. The drive to the Silver Star Sno Park should take about 5h30min, but it took me much longer due to having to stop several times to take a nap. I may have been better off taking a longer stop, but there was the risk of just not waking up again until dawn. Anyways!

While Hwy 20 is technically closed on the east side at Early Winters, it was open to car traffic on the weekend up to about 1/2 mi past the Silver Star Sno Park, and completely open to foot and bike traffic. It should be open to car traffic by Mother's day weekend.

I got to the Sno Park around 8a, and only saw one cyclist heading up. It was cloudy with some wind and rain/snow showers in the forecast. After eating breakfast, drinking lots of coffee, and sorting out my gear, I hit the trail. There is patchy snow immediately. I occasionally found traces of the climber's trail, but most of it is still buried. I just followed the creek all the way up the valley. Lots of rotten snow bridges and wells to punch through. Lots of old ski tracks.

Once I broke out into the open basin above tree line, I put on my snowshoes. The snow was wet and heavy. Beautiful views of Silver Star, the Wine spires and Vasiliki Ridge! And occasional gusts of cold wind coming down from the various gullies. I traversed over to the left side of the basin, then headed up and up. The snow got a bit better with elevation, but still not ideal. I was getting a bit tired - my brain was begging for me to make a snow nest and take a nap. Onward!

On the glacier, the snow had a decent wind crust on it, but snowshoes were fine all the way up to the col. No crevasses. Once at the col, I found a spot sheltered from the wind and had a longer snack break. It was hard to resist the temptation of curling up for a quick nap.

The summit block was partially melted out. I swapped out snowshoes for crampons. The snow was not great - I wallowed thigh deep through a few spots. The crampons were 100% not necessary, and definitely made for some awkward scrambling on rock for the last 20-30ft. But I made it!

Rather unfortunately, the top was socked in, but I put my imagination to work. I didn't linger long. I went back down to the col, stopped to strap my snowshoes to my pack. I considered going back down via Burgundy col, but I didn't like the idea of a long road walk back to my car.

So, I kept my crampons on until I got past the icy section, then plunge stepped all the way back down to the basin. I was able to get in a short glissade. Then snowshoes down the basin and part of the way down the valley - the snow had gotten much softer through the day. I was saw some fresh skin tracks lower down in the valley - where did these skiers head to?

Finally back at my car, I cleaned up myself and my stuff, shoveled a bunch of food and caffeine down my belly, and headed out for a very long overnight drive to do Eldorado the next day.................

I realized later that I had gotten sunburnt quite badly. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever gotten my ears sunburnt. I knew I should've sunscreened when I pulled out my sunglasses!

Total about 9.5hrs C2C, 9.2mi.

This is really a climb, not a day hike. glacier travel and some rock climbing is involved. 

We started a little past midnight and made our way up burgundy col. This is a very steep climbers trail and there is a stream crossing as soon as you depart from Highway 20. It’s fairly easy to find multiple logs. The steep hike to Burgundy col is brutal ( there is a faint climbers path). At the top of the col you drop down onto the glacier (it is steep). The final climb to the top does involve some steep climbing (maybe a few low class 5 moves). Highly recommend bringing a 30 meter rope for rappelling. Amazing views!! We did the entire climb in 12 hours round trip.