The trail to Melakwa Lake is straightforward, very easy to follow in the dark. D is a trail runner, really fast. The first 2 some miles is gentle, and I was able to keep a good speed. We crossed the Danny Creek Slide easily (full moon was on Monday, so it was bright enough in the open). Once the slope gets a bit steeper, I slowed down, so D had to wait. Refueled sugar a couple of times. Lost a few minutes when crossing the next creek, because we couldn't see the other side. Managed to reach Melakwa Lake before 5am. Made a rest stop, ate a croissant (one of many breakfasts today). I could make out the lake and the hills behind in the moonlight.
At the lake, head towards the toilet sign, a trail can be seen going up the ridge. Too dark to take photos with my old phone. It was actually quite pretty, once it was open: clouds lit by the moon. We got lost a little bit on the ridge . 
At around 5600' on the ridge, had to drop down about 300', which was quite steep in the beginning. That was bad in the dark when heathers were slippery with dew and fog. I slowed down to a crawl. At the bottom, traverse a talus field before going up again, on rocks, steep. It's scary to look at, but actually not bad at all. We could find well spaced rocks to step up. In fact, we each took slightly different routes to go up.
I didn't make to the summit until ~10 minutes after sunrise. Oh, well. 
It's really beautiful at this hour. We were lucky with the weather. Snapped many photos in all directions: Baker and Glacier to the north, Adams and Rainier to the south, and many peaks I don't know the name. Sea of clouds shift below us. D signed the registry, I didn't bother. Saw a rectangular metal box afixed on the rock with signs instead of the usual small round geo-survey marker.
I started hiking down earlier, because I was slower. At the former-mentioned slippery section, going up in the sun isn't bad. Below the lake (still dark), we hiked into clouds. 
Fall colors were turning nicely. We scared a few grouses.
Spent a few minutes taking photos of a pika. Then we started to meet hikers coming up. Total maybe ~25.
Reached the TH at ~10:10am. No access to I-90 west, because the road is now one way. Had to drive to Snoqualmie Pass to get on I-90, very silly. Good fall color along the highway too. I was dropped off downtown shortly past 11am — my scrum meeting time.
