I could use some advice from those who like to mix a little scrambling to the tops of mountains with their hiking. I recently hiked in the Wind River Range in Wyoming and tried my hand(s) at clambering to the top of a couple mountains -- my first class two route to the top of East Temple Peak and four days later my first class three scramble to the top of Fremont Peak. I enjoyed the heck out of it! I was frustrated, though, in my hopes of getting to the top of Wind River Peak by an unconventional west route and getting up to Bonney Pass a few days later by steep seasonal snow fields. I didn't have the experience or the equipment to be going up, down or across snow fields where one slip meant an accelerating slide down hundreds of feet with nothing to greet me at the bottom but rocks.

I've done some reading in some mountaineering books since I got back and am convinced I need a general-purpose mountaineering ice ax and some practice using it for such things as self arrest before I try to tackle steep snow fields. But what about crampons? I should make clear that I have no intention of tackling crevasse-laced glaciers or steep ice in my non-technical mountaineering (class three routes are as tough as I want to do right now). But would crampons still prove essential? And if I decide to get crampons just how rigid would my footwear need to be? Do I need full-blown boots? Can crampons be clamped onto any kind of trail runners?

My intention is to mix a little mountaineering with traditional hiking, so I'm not wild about the idea of having to pack both a full set of trail essentials (and nothing heavier than trail runners is a hiking essentail to me) and mountain scrambling essentials if that includes ice ax, crampons, bag for the crampons, boots especially for crampons, and helmet.