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Started from the Loj at 7:00, rather quiet this morning, ran into a group on their way to the Trap Dyke. Put snowshoes on and kept them on until back at the parking lot. The well packed trail to Marcy Dam had a crunchy crust on it from the Friday storm. From Marcy Dam towards Avalanche Pass, there were several inches of fresh snow under a crunchy crust, the same on the way to Lake Arnold with a bit more snow. I was surprised at how snowed over/blow in the trail up Colden was given I’ve read many reports within the last week of hikers up that trail. Sometimes it was powdery, sometimes crunchy crust. The trail over to Indian Falls had some fresh snow/crunchy top and a previous postholed path the whole way, lots of tree branches bent over into the trail from ice. Headed up Phelps and ran into a group coming down, the trail was well packed. It was an overcast, gray day without a view from either peak or Indian Falls. But, the temps were good (15-20 all day) and the strong winds (as forecasted) did not turn out to be a problem on this route. It was a quiet day, we did not see any other hikers until Indian Falls. Uneventful descent down Phelps and back to the Loj at 2:30.