It was a snow packed road to Spirit Lake and what I thought was the trail was covered as well. I followed the main trail from trailhead for quite awhile before I just had to abandon it and bushwhack through the woods to climb the cirque up to the ridge. Not a great approach. It was hard to leave that trail, it was so nice to visit the many lakes, but that wasn't my purpose today.
The climb was brutal. I tried to go boulder to boulder the snow was deep between and thoughts of snapping a leg were always present when busting through a hole.
I eventually made it to the ridge where part of the highland trail slip by. I still had 1.5 to go and being on a 11,000 ridge drains the energy right out of you. This is a very flat peak with some incredible views. Two county high points complete.