The trail goes steadily up from the beginning, not too steep. The first mile is in the woods. I was dripping with sweat, had hard time breathing because of the dust. Here, common woodland flowers, but I found 2 Washington Lily (named after a person, not the state). 
Then, it breaks out to a burnt area, so views are better, and grade is easier. Now the flowers were in good shape. Could be better later. Some beargrass, not many blooming. Hood is dead ahead. Adams is behind. Rainier is half in the clouds. In about 2 miles from TH, we reached Tilly Jane A Frame, about 1900' above the car. We were now back in the woods. The Tilly Jane Creek is nearby to the right.
Continued up via the left most fork. In ~1.5 miles later, it's Cooper Spur Stone Shelter, just above Timberline Trail junction. After another regroup and rest, we headed to Cooper Spur. 
Zigzag above the moraine by Elliot Glacier. Then, butterflies appeared in the thousands. They seemed to materialize in the ravine, and flew over and around us. It was amazing to see the endless wave of butterflies going in one direction. At the top of the moraine, a stone wall nicely laid out for a tent. People sat inside to block half of the wind. You can see Jefferson now.
Two of us decided to stop here and not going further. This is the kind of ridge walk I enjoy. Not steep, but you see both sides. Butterflies were a bit less. At the end of the trail, before climbing onto the glacier begins, we hurdled in another tent site in the half stone wall. A bit chilly. I lend my rain jacket to Gayle. Here are the 6 of them.Return as we came. Going down the moraine is easy. You slide down the scree. Since the slope is gentle, it's a quick going down. The rest is the same, same dust. Back to the car by 6pm.
