Climbed the North Ridge of Ruth Mountain via Hannegan Pass.
The road was in great condition, any car should be able to make it.
The trail to Hannegan Pass is very nice, well-graded, and has good views from the start. We camped at the camping area below Hannegan Pass. It had plenty of spots, very good water access, and places for a bear hang. We passed folks who said they saw a bear so definitely come prepared to store your food appropriately. Around three miles in, beginning at around maybe 4,000 feet, there are a lot of huckleberries. At higher elevations, there are wild blueberries everywhere!
The trail to Ruth Arm is generally in good condition just beware of the long and steep muddy gully that you need to use. It is doable just very slippery and unpleasant. Past the gully, the trail is easily followable as it traverses around point 5930 and onto Ruth Arm. The higher you get up the Arm more route-finding and scrambling is needed. You don't really have to use your hands that much but it is definitely not a trail. There are some cairns, though GPS may be helpful.
We took the arm all the way to the base of the glacier, and there we put on crampons, roped up, and got our ice axes. The glacier is very icy and fairly steep, and you should not attempt it without adequate gear (crampons, ice axe, rope team etc) or adequate knowledge and experience (glacier travel, self arrest, crevasse rescue etc). Sidenote - there is a route up to the summit that avoids the glacier, and you should check previous trip reports for that info. We found ice screws helpful, especially for the few slightly spicy sections, such as a three foot vertical ice step. There is basically no snow covering the glacier, so cresvasses were visible and the glacier icy. We climbed up to the base of the rock fin on the ridge, traversed through it's bowl the climbed up out the bowl to the final rock section. The final rock section is not difficult and just a walk to the top. Unfortunately too cloudy to see anything up top.
We descended back down the way we came and then back to the car. Successful trip!!
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