[Solved] Can't boot after 10.13.2 update

[clintster]

Gigabyte GA-Z79X-UD7, i4790k

I upgraded from Sierra to High Sierra back in October via the App Store was working just fine.
I did the 10.13.2 update back in December and my Mac got stuck in a boot loop, can no longer get to the desktop.
Since I did an OTA update, I didn't have a USB of High Sierra to try to boot from so I made one with my MacBook - did a install over the existing High Sierra installation and still can't get into it.
I just need to get to my desktop to backup a few files to an external hard drive and then i'll do a fresh install from scratch.
Any suggestions on boot flags or any way to get to the desktop to backup the files?

 

[BreBo]

Any suggestions on boot flags or any way to get to the desktop to backup the files?

Boot your system in Verbose Mode and post a picture of your screen when it freezes/hangs.
At Clover Boot Screen press space bar and select Verbose (-v)

 

[clintster]

Boot your system in Verbose Mode and post a picture of your screen when it freezes/hangs.
At Clover Boot Screen press space bar and select Verbose (-v)

I gave up and restored from a Time Machine backup and was able to get it to boot to backup my data.