On my first Big Draw ascent, I learned that Calicokat (Jim) is also doing the JMT trail this summer
I started to "pick his brain" (an awful expression, actually) about trail logistics and equipment on that hike and hoped to learn more from him.
In corresponding about superlight tents, he kindly invited me to join him on his Friday hike
I misuderstood our route and wore shorts, so my legs are sporting a few new scratches 
We took the cross country route from Vivian up to bag both Dobbs peaks, then headed up Jepson, then over to San Gorgonio. We didn't encounter snow until we reached the plateau area that hosts both Dobbs peaks.
Weather was perfect -- not too cool in the morning nor hot in the afternoon. This was my first hike that felt like a summer hike
We carried microspikes but didn't need them. I stayed in shorts and tee-shirt the whole day. On the way down, we avoided the icy, snow covered traverse before the red bump by going over the other (west) side of the ridge -- it has a well traveled use trail.
At the red bump, we ran into tired hikers who enquired about snow on the traverse and summit. We pointed at the ridge we'd just descended and gave them explicit advice on how to avoid the icy snow on the traverse. As we went over the red bump, we saw these folks on the main trail heading directly to the icy traverse
Oh well, we tried.
I recommended that we take a gully down to High Creek camp to avoid the mind-numbing switchbacks down the ridge. At we dropped, we encountered snow on the left side of the gully and heavy brush on the right
I apologized to Jim -- it is a great cross country route when covered with snow. We bailed out and got back on the main trail right before reaching High Creek camp.
The rest of the descent was uneventful except for the large number of downed trees after Halfway camp
Thanks to Jim for a fabulous day and more excellent advice for my JMT hike
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
