We started out at 6:30 a.m. and had very comfortable temps to start. We were in the canyon as the sun rose so we did not get that full beauty of the sunrise. Being an “extra slow” hiker I anticipated 6 hours to reach the top. We arrived at Sturtevant Camp 1 hour ahead of schedule but quickly lost time as we continued on where the trail becomes very deceiving. You aren't on a ridge so the slope of the trail at a glance does not look nearly as steep as it actually is!

We reached the top of Wilson on schedule right about 12:30 where we broke for snacks and foot care. On the return we had a little trouble finding our continuing trai (upper winter creek)l but some fellow hikers were happy to assist us. aside from venturing off trail for one leg of the descent where I really expected to eat it the hike down was very pretty. My Inreach pinged every 10 minutes and clocked a total of 16.17 miles. I planned for 12 miles so in all it took us 11 hours and 45 minutes (remember I'm a trail turtle). Needless to say I felt exhausted and broken. I was starving! So we went from the trail to dinner and from dinner to the masseuse! A challenging but great experience for my first peak!