When Sam first spotted this route on Leatherneck Ridge he commented that it would be nice to do this, then when we did Falls Creek the second time and he was able to see the start of the route more clearly his mind was made up.
The climb was quite sustained, we had to get around some wet areas at the bottom of the couloir where it met Falls Creek and once you are in the route it's hard to tell at the very bottom looking up that you are in the correct one but we pulled out pictures that we took earlier in the day to confirm we were on the right one.
I'm one of those climbers that can take a 20 minute break but after that I get cold and my legs start to cramp if I sit too long, the wind was a "Holling" on the ridge where the saddle met the couloir so after some grub and pictures I wanted to keep moving.
When we got to the last 200 feet I had to keep telling myself ("it's just a little bit more") to keep moving, there was this rock outcroping on the ridge just above the Miller/St. Jacinto saddle that I aimed for not knowing exactly where Miller Summit Proper was as I'd never come up that side before, then when I was 50 feet from it I realized I was above Miller Peak and could see it off to my left, by then Sam was right behind me and I joked I don't need to climb that, I've done enough for today - but I had to get at least one picture from the summit.
If the snow had been a little more consolidated this route would have been so much more fun, it had it's moments, but that take two steps on nice snow, then sink into soft snow wears on you after a while. I was never so glad to see the tram in my life.
But once again, thanks Sam for suggesting such a unique route, there's nothing like doing something special - I did have a blast.
