The switchbacks were tricky. Should I use my new crampons or not.  Part of the switchbacks had snow and ice, where crampons were not required but very useful.  The other section was very rocky and where crampons would be very dangerous to me and destructive to my crampons. I did not want to keep changing the things on and off, so I went without till the last third were the ice became more prevalent. They made traversing the switchback much easier, but I took my time. While I was putting the crampons on, a group of two female day hikers stop on their way up. With very little reason to fly up the remaining portion of the switchbacks, I stayed with the ladies till Trail Crest. Until Trail Crest (13,777ft and 8.5 miles in) I was feeling very good. Then after nearly killing myself trying to navigate down a rocky section still wearing my crampons a light bulb flashed in my head, take off the crampons fool! As I said, I was feeling fine at Trail Crest and was wondering what all this fuse was about the high elevation. Soon, I was to get a crash course in High Altitude fatigue. From Trail Crest there is a drop about 300 feet and numerous ups and down over perilous ice sections. The last two miles of the trail took about four-hours.  I continually repeated the process of taking a few steps and resting to catch my breath and regain my strength. The last half-mile was the most difficult part of the trail. I lost the trail and was forced to scramble over boulders till I finally reached the top.