We managed to take the actual trail from the Abbot Pass Viewpoint down to the 6G Tea House. Once we got to the Tea House, we found out that the trail from the Tea House to the Abbot Pass Viewpoint was closed to all hikers. For us, having just traversed it, we understood why. Some sections were covered with deep snow. I led the way down because it made the most sense. I have my built-in size 15 snow shoes which I wear every time I put on shoes, so I stomped a trail for the others to follow. I figured that if I could make it through, the others could make it behind me.

It started off pretty easy as you can see in the first photo. The trail was all snow but not too bad. But before long, we experienced many areas of snow sitting on top of ice. When I started to slip and slide on the ice with my size 15 shoes, I knew we were in for trouble. I would go a little ways ahead and then tell them where the rough or icy spots were. But even with my experience and advice, we all took our tumbles. You can see April sliding off the trail in the second photo. But that turned out not to be the real problem either. We soon came across a monster avalanche area which you can see in the third photo. That one took most of the forest with it. We had trouble just climbing through the clutter while trying to follow the trail. The avalanches and the potential for more at any moment was why the trail was closed. And for deep snow, you can see Andrew in the last photo, trudging his way through the snow.