Took advantage of the sustained warm and dry pattern to hike to Camp Muir yesterday. I also added on Anvil Rock, which was well worth the short detour for sweeping views of the Cowlitz Glacier.
Microspikes worked the entire way thanks to the well-traveled lower slopes and wind blown upper sections, and I only had a few minor postholes while descending in the softer afternoon snow. Trekking poles sufficed on the ascent but an ice axe was essential from Camp Muir to the base of Panorama Point in order to control my speed while glissading. I was able to quickly glissade ~80% of the way from Camp Muir to the base of Panorama Point, with the most difficult section being down the Point itself, where the glissade chutes were icy and rutted from foot traffic.
Note that the road from Longmire doesn't open until 9am and you have to exit Longmire gate by 4pm, so you have at most a six hour window to get from Paradise to Muir and back. Road conditions were icy in the morning but bare and wet in the afternoon.
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