At this point, I have 9 peaks left for my winter 46.  It's soooo close, I can almost taste it.  The problem I am going to run into is I have a lot of mountains left that are deep in the woods.  3 of the hikes I need to do are 17 miles or a bit more.  The other 2 are 12.5 and 14 miles.  We have had a lot of snow this year, and the more remote locations, like what I have left, are deep with snow and not many people have gone that way.  But, here are the 5 hikes I have left, roughly the order I'm planning on doing them, and my thoughts/concerns with them.

Marcy, Skylight, Grey

This is one of the penultimate hikes in the high peaks.  You hit the highest point and 4th highest points in the state with Marcy and Skylight, and are disappointed in Grey for the lack of good views  (well, not really, but it is a let down compared to the other 2).  Without a doubt, the hike up Marcy via the VanHovenberg trail is straight forward, well traveled, and not much of a concern.  The same goes for the avalanche pass and lake Arnold trails to at least the turnoff for Colden.  Everything else is my concern.

I have read a report of someone trying Cliff and Redfield from Loj, so I am pretty confident that the entirety of the lake Arnold trail is broken out to some degree.  I don't know about from Feldspar lean-to to 4 corners an the trails to the 3 mountains on that side.  It's a bowl, and know to accumulate deep snows.  So, the question is what order do we do things.  If we find out someone has broken out from feldspar to 4 corners, we will probably come in that way and exit over Marcy.  If not, we'll probably go over Marcy first, and depending on what we find, we may backtrack over her a second time... it's 17 miles and 5000 feet of elevation to loop, and 17.8 miles and 5500 feet to go back over.... that 0.8 miles and 500 feet of elevation is better than breaking a mile or so more trail.

Saddleback

This is the shortest hike left at 12.5 miles and 3200 feet of elevation.  It's pretty straight forward, and the only place I would expect to run into issues is the col between it and Gothics.  It has been traveled recently, so it should not be a huge issue to get up.

Cliff, Redfield

This is one that I have seen multiple people fail on this year, be they approach from Loj (18 miles, 4800 feet) or from Upper Works (18.4 miles 4200 feet).  Getting to the Uphill lean-to seems to be ok either way.  Redfield has been done a few times this year, but Cliff has a lot of failures, including one from yesterday.  There has been a lot of deep snow at the base of these 2 peaks, so it may not be realistic to get through that to the summits.  That said, it will be a lot of work, but fun to give it a try.

Marshall

This is my second shortest hike left at 13.9 miles and 2900 feet.  It's one of my favorite hikes, and I can't wait to see it in winter.  That said, we have had a few turn around near the top due to deep snow.  Being a "short" hike, and an easy hike in to the herd path to start, it should be something doable.

Haystack, Basin

This will be my personal penultimate hike.  I want to finish on Haystack as it's my favorite peak.  This is a 17.7 mile hike with 5300 feet of elevation.  It will be the most elevation on one hike for winter, but close to Giant/RPR, Lower WolfJaw, and Marcy/Skylight/Grey.... all hikes that are/will be over 5000 feet of elevation.  My concern with this hike is Shoreys Shortcut.  When you're doing just these 2 peaks, and not going for Saddleback too, Shoreys is going to be a trail you have to take.  It is one that may or may not be broken out.  I saw a report recently where it wasn't broken from the Basin side, but it was on the Slant Rock side.  My other concern is getting over Little Haystack to get to Haystack.  There's a good sized drop off Little Haystack that could be unnerving.  Winter routes do change though, so it may be passed by, or if lucky, filled in with solid snow.  The other concern is getting up Basin as it's got a good sized ladder that should be well snowed in.  Getting up that pitch may be difficult to do.

Ultimately, I have a feeling that I am not going to get all 9 this winter.  I have a feeling I am going to do fine with Marcy, Skylight, Grey, Saddleback, and Marshall.  I fear I may not get Cliff and Redfield, and if that's the case, I'm not going to go for Basin and Haystack as I really want to end on Haystack.  I may go for just Basin though, which would leave me 3 for the following winter.  Time will tell what happens.