Maiden Peak with my son and mosquitos!

We kicked off the 2023 challenge with Maiden  Peak. I wouldn’t normally take on 12 miles this early in the hiking season but we camped at Crescent Lake for the weekend; Maiden Peak was too close to pass up! The bugs were plentiful and there were snow fields about 2/3 of the way up. We had downloaded the trail on All Trails so that helped us stay in course. Being a stand alone peak though I feel like it would have been really hard to “get lost”….just go up and then just go down! I took my 13 yo son and this was the longest hike he’s done. Not a single complaint and happy as a lark! The rain, thunder and lightening came down the entire two hours back from the summit which was a lovely reprieve from the bugs but a little nerve-wracking being in a forest during lightening.