I could arrange to have the mountain all to myself. Except I can't do that. Nobody can. It's public land. Duh.

So if I don't have the ability to keep the trail to myself perhaps I should take myself off the trail. Yes, definitely the right approach.

There was no avoiding the first stretch of trail. We started early and cleared the spiderwebs for everyone that started later. At the first opportunity, we went off-trail onto the snow. July snow is the best snow. It's firm enough to walk on, not so soft you sink in it, and oh so tasty. (Just don't eat the bugs.)

The route I followed approaches the summit from the opposite side of the basin below the peak. There's no trail and no crowds. Tink ran with tongue-slapping-her-in-the-face abandon and learned to glissade on the steep snow slopes.

We didn't actually summit. We had great views from our high point, about the same elevation as the true summit, but separated by cliffs. There were a few people on the summit, but nobody close to us.

Even our route down avoided the trail as much as we could. We slid down through the snow-filled basin until we had no choice but to rejoin the trail. Immediately, we started encountering hikers on their way up.

My advice? Pick your destinations to avoid the crowds. If you really, really need to go to a popular spot, go by an unpopular route. And wear a mask.