Yesterday, I went and tackled Dial and Nippletop for winter credit.  The last time I attempted this, I got about 3 miles in and couldn't get my heart rate down, even when relaxing on Noonmark's shoulder, so turned around.  This time I was solo and got was feeling much better.  Started the day with the 1.6 mile road walk to the trailhead in bare boots.  At that point, I put my spikes on and started up the HG Leach trail.  This was thinly covered with snow and spikes were just fine for the first half mile or so.  At that point, the trail was getting deeper with snow and a change over to snowshoes is advisable.  By the time you reached state lands though, snowshoes were required as there was at least 8 inches off trail.  That initial mile of climb is the steepest I faced all day and really wasn't that bad, apart from a small icy section just after I hit state land.

From there it was a day of up and down.  First, finish the up to the viewpoint off the shoulder, which I still believe is the best one on this hike.  Then it was down and up to Bear Den.  This section has a lot of random icy spots.  Many of them I didn't really notice when I was going uphill, but I did notice when going back down, and took a few good slips and a fall or two.  Then it was down and up to Dial.  This col is the first spot of what would be a common theme between the peaks, a lot of drifted snow.  Not horrible drifts, at most a foot, but annoying none the less.

At the top of Dial I didn't climb the boulder to get better pictures, but I could see that what was a clear view of the range on the shoulder now was cloud covered somewhere above Saddleback (4500 feet).  Then it was off to Nippletop.  Again, more up and some downs.  I met a pair of guys that came up via Elk Pass and they said that was pretty good condition, mostly snow.  We joked how the way they were going, you get the major climbing done early coming up from the pass, and then it's all downhill from there, except for all the short ups.  An hour later, I was on Nippletop with time to spare from my turn around time.  I got some food, pictures, and turned around.  I considered going down Elk Pass, but decided to keep to the original plan and go back the way I came.  It added some more elevation and about half a mile more, but it was the trail I knew vs the trail I didn't know.

It was a long day, but it was beautiful out there.  The Leach trail now is in pretty good shape.