Fun loop that’s more straightforward than it seemed. I went clockwise, and I think that’s the preferred way to go. The gps track for the route didn’t upload to my watch correctly so I was having to stop and pull out my phone quite a bit for navigation. I missed the climbers shortcut up to McNeil Point because I was just following trail in that section. It added an extra 1.5ish miles? and I lost some time. Luckily, it all reconnected and I was able to finish the run up to HO rock.
The only not-so-fun section was just getting down from the ridgeline to the Sandy Glacier area. It was a steep traverse through a lot of heather. Not too bad, but also not super enjoyable. Once you got through that, navigation was pretty straightforward and fun boulder hopping. Lots of loose rocks, I moved a few on some steep sections that were bigger than me. The whole off trail traverse section took just a little over an hour or so. This time of year the snow patches were very manageable, if you wanted, you could even completely avoid them with a little more hiking.
Once you got up to trail on Yocum, it was nice and cruiser back to the trailhead. The blowdown section has received a lot of maintenance and was in good shape. I carried 2L of water with me, and didn’t need to refill but there were ample areas to get water. I don’t think this route gets much attention but it’s worth a go if you don’t mind getting off trail for a bit. I left lots of opportunity to shave time off! Go get it and have fun!