Started at 6:50 AM. Ran into the same extreme gusting wind at the exposed switchback at ~7,200 as two years ago. This time we were able to work our way up by crouching. From that point on, we alternated between moving slowly and dropping down when the gusts got really bad. Shortly after the switchback, we ran into a guy on his way down -- he'd left 20 minutes before us. He said he got to an area on the ridge where he couldn't stand up. When we got there, it was very clear that was where he had turned around. I was almost on my hands and knees to negotiate that part -- we called it a day. I'm guessing this was at about the 7800 ft level. There wasn't much snow up to that elevation. We warned a few more people on the way down.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen