There are some great trip reports written recently on WTA and SummitPost for this scramble so I'll try and keep mine from being redundant. To begin with I did Mcmillan as an overnight, not the 3 day trip that it's usually done in. I was traveling solo and had my mountaineering boots, ice ax, crampons, helmet, and approach shoes with me. No rope.
From Goodell Creek TH the trail is straight-forward, a bit brushy at times but I was so excited I barely noticed. There is a well marked cairn about 4 miles in for the climbers trail. The next bit is quite steep, I took my time here trying to stay in an aerobic zone and keep my heart rate below 85%. This might seem odd but I've found paying attention to my exertion level helpful on strenuous climbs, staying within a certain heart rate zone prevents muscle fatigue (lactic acid). I'm prepping for an expedition to the Himalayas next spring so this was a great training workout.
Eventually you'll break out of the tree line and into the meadow, the views are amazing, you'll get your first look at the southern pickets. Then you get to "the notch". This is, in my opinion, the spiciest part of the entire scramble. Going down wasn't fun but coming up was so much worse. I probably didn't pick the best line to come up but just be really careful here. The "trail" is steep, loose, and eroding quickly. The basin is amazing and there are cairns that will lead you through the cliffs towards Mcmillan Spire. I ran into a group who let me know there were bivy sites closer to Mcmillan and so I pushed on and camped at one near the unnamed glacial lake beneath Mcmillan.
The next morning I began my final approach to the summit. The going is easy enough, cross the stream and follow the cairns up across the first gully and begin heading towards the obvious col between Mcmillan and Inspiration. This late in the year there wasn't much glacier left. I managed to find a path that was free of crevasses and mostly free of obvious blue ice. After crossing, continue on towards the col. I will say it sucks bringing mountaineering gear for such a short easy 100ft of glacier. I didn't need crampons on the way there, but on my way back later in the day it was very slick and I fell and had to self arrest. I then quickly put my crampons on and was totally fine. If you find yourself on slabby 4th/low 5th class terrain, stop down-climb and move more to your left, but not so far to your left that you're on the nasty loose pebble dirt(near the cliffs). There is a relatively easy class 3 route to the col. I'm a rock climber and loved this section. Some great hand and footholds. Super fun scrambling! You'll see a new bivy site at the col! how cool, no water though. The rest is easy, pick a line and scramble up, up, up! You'll know when you reach the top. The climbing is pretty straightforward, but airy and exposed. Mostly class 3.
It took me about 2.5-3hrs to summit from my campsite, and two hours to get down. I packed up my stuff and started on my way home. I got REALLY tired loosing all that elevation after my morning of scrambling West Mcmillan, so I can see why most people do this as a three day trip. I had a great time on this adventure. Worth noting there is A LOT of elevation gain/loss. over 9,000ft. Not for the faint of heart and you'll need to be in excellent shape.
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