Today should have been an easy hike. I had slept well and felt good but for some reason had problems getting up a head of steam. Walking with my microspikes on for the first hour slows things down a fair bit too. Like all crampons, they’re great for the extra grip they provide and a total pain because the snow balls up underneath them, so you have to stop every few minutes and knock them clean. However, in fits and starts, I carry on the sun is out and I lower the distance that I was planning to cover and in a few hours reach Dole where I call it a day.