I did the MR in April 2013, with quite a bit of snow. My partners waited while I went down to tag Muir. I think Muir took a bit under two hours, round trip. I didn’t record the time, but I’m going to guess that we took something like 12-14 hours, car to car.
It sounds like altitude won’t be a problem for you. I would camp at Iceberg Lake to make your double summit day easier. The rock climbing isn’t particularly difficult, but there is quite a bit of class 2-3. If you’re confident on class 3, you’ll just scramble up like climbing stairs. Pay attention to the route-finding; there are plenty of opportunities to screw up. Muir itself is a real classic. Too bad it isn’t longer.
You’re going to be very close to Mt. Russell, so you might want to think about what it would take to make this trip a three-fer.
I have also climbed the Colorado 14ers, and I found the ratings in the Roach guide to be a bit higher than in California. Roach might have rated Muir as 3-4, while it’s 3 in all the guides I have. Similarly, I would call the MR chute class 2 with sections of class 3, while Roach might have just said 3.
Be sure to ask about snow conditions just before you go. You will probably want crampons and an axe in the couloir.
Good luck! Have fun!
