THE HIKE

Were you worried that we didn't make it through our hike? Sorry about the delay in posting. Sometimes real life must take precedence over my online life.

Our hike was wonderful. Cold, tiring, challenging, exciting...wonderful!

We met Jimmy, Andrew, and Billy at the visitor's center in the morning. They were none the worse for wear after spending the night out in the below freezing temperatures. Billy swore that he was sweating in his tent at night and Jimmy said that he slept with his tent flap open. Really????

As we stood around waiting for everyone to gather to begin our hike, I noticed two white things drifting down from the sky. I joked that maybe it was snow. Well, no joke, it was snow! It snowed off and on throughout the whole hike. I loved it!!



The hike began with a short, gentle climb to the south lookout. Just enough to get our muscles warmed up.

The view was overcast but still amazing.

The down portion of the hike was very relaxing. Not too difficult except for watching each step because of the rocks and protruding tree roots.

We stopped a couple of times to take off layers, put on layers, have a drink of water, eat a small snack, or snap a few pictures of the beauty that was surrounding us.

Our trail meandered down through the woods and eventually went through this amazing rock field. There are several of these fields throughout our state. My brother tells me that they are debris left over from a glacier passing through long, long ago. We irreverently refer to them as "glacier poop". They are really fun places to explore, difficult, but definitely worth the effort for some pictures. Luckily because of the freezing weather, we saw no snakes. I imagine this would be quite the snake playground in the warm weather. I don't intend ever to find this out though!

After a stop for lunch, we started the climb back up the mountain. This was, as always, the most challenging part for me. I get out of breath very quickly. I took it slow, stopped A LOT to catch my breath, and eventually made it up the steepest part of the trail.

Then we came to the truly scary part of the trail. Oh, did I say scary? I really meant fun and challenging!

We have climbed this trail many times. Each time I seem to forget just how hard it really is. The snow on this trip added quite a lot more excitement with the slippery foot and hand holds and frozen fingers trying to grip the rock.









Finally, after 4 hours, and some help on the rocks from Scott (Thank you Scott), we made it to the top, North Lookout.

The view was not what it usually is because of the snow and overcast conditions, but it was still breathtaking and totally worth the trip!!

After spending just a short time at the top admiring the awesomeness of the place, we decided to head back down. IT WAS FREEZING!!!!

The walk down seemed like more of a stroll in the park compared to the hike up.

It was a terrific day. One of the best ever! I already can't wait for our next hike.

Any takers??