Timp

Got to the parking lot just after 4am. I was surprised at how many cars were already parked. Hiked with a headlamp in the dark for  the first 2 hours. It was windy and colder than I expected it to be. Our group was slow paced and stopped a lot to rest and take photos. Enjoyed the beautiful colors of the sky once the sun came up. The entire hike is absolutely stunning. Lots of wildflowers and green!! The meadow area with all the wildflowers was my favorite part. The trail is in great condition and easy to follow. We saw many mountain goats with babies. Other people on the trail warned us that they’d seen a moose on the trail, but we never saw it.

The hike wasn’t too difficult (other than the distance) until we reached the saddle. Lots of rock scrambling after that. I tried to only focus on the ground beneath me, because I was afraid of the cliffs and I experienced some vertigo if I looked around too much. There were beautiful views from the top, but I only stayed long enough to take a few photos. I was scared that the shack on top was going to blow away with me in it! Very cold and windy at the top.

On the hike down the wind stopped and it was much warmer. I enjoyed seeing the part of the trail that I didn’t see going up because it was dark. We took a short detour to some waterfalls on the way down. Overall it took me 9 hours to complete this hike and I logged it at 14.73 miles. That includes rest/picture stops and the detour to the waterfalls.