Having learned our lesson from last week's hike, Crosby the eager-yet-easily-overheated Golden Retriever and I were paws on the trail at 6:15.  Friends, it was not early enough. We had to start taking cool-down breaks even before summiting, and that led to the experience being a liiiiittle longer than anticipated.  We encountered 21 other hikers on trail; I was genuinely concerned for the folks starting out at 10, because by that time, the heat was radiating up from the rocks as well as from above.  Whew!

This was our first time on Strawberry Peak, and it starts out as a nice ramble.  A quick uphill for about a half mile, then a junction with two daunting slopes to either side. The good news is, you get to stay on the relatively flat trail just in front of you (a little hidden as it skirts the hillside).  An arrow of rocks (backward from this direction) helps show you where to go. This was the most fun part of the trail, gradual, shaded when the sun hasn't gotten high enough over the slopes (even mostly on the way back), and we actually ran most of it on the way back (just a few tiny dicey steps).  At the end of this section (maybe a mile and a half?) we reached the first part of the uphills.  I say “the uphills,” because Strawberry Peak is a real tease – you summit about 5 false hills before you get to the photo op. REALLY RECOMMEND POLES on this one. Not so much for the uphill, but to help going down. My rump met scree a few times since I had opted to go pole-less.  These peaks are steep but doable; take your breaks and find your shade.

There's a nice shady spot on the right just before the final small push to the top of the peak. Crosby beelined to it, and we used it to rehydrate and dunk ourselves with water (4 liters carried on this trip, ALL of it used). The summit had a flag, signs, and lots of tiny strawberry magnets that were pretty cute. Had we not been so eager to get out of the heat, there would definitely been some Instagrammable shots.  Crosby stuck his snout in the log box, perhaps in search of the promised “strawberries.”  Instead, I'd brought a pluot that we shared.  Different fruit, but strawberry adjacent, right?

Off the trail at 10:30, home to a burger and well-earned nap for both of us.