Hiking Rose was something I wasn't quite looking forward to.  Last year I hiked it on Christmas Eve and it was a miserable rainy day with the wrong gear.

This year I was prepared with proper rain gear but wasn't sure what to expect.  The weather called for some showers but also clouds and sunshine.  We arrived at the park an hour before opening so we had some time to sleep a little more.  It was kinda good because the rain was really coming down at this time.

We got on the trail just after sunrise and made our way up.  I wasn't looking at my map and for some reason, directed us left to McCorkle Trail and it added on a little mileage.  We got back on our trail at the Backpackers Road junction just before the campgrounds.  Clouds were coming in and out and the morning fog was slowly dissipating. We we're able to see Little Yosemite this time and it was beautiful.  There were also lots of cows and calfs hanging out everywhere. We made it to the peak around 1:30p and had hot soup under a light drizzle.  Our rain gear kept us dry and cozy until some sunshine broke through.  We saw lots of rainbows as we hiked our way in and out of sunshine.

We made our way back down and stayed on the Backpackers Road when we came back to the junction and we didn't take longer getting back to the car.  At least we were all dry and got to see the beautiful landscape.  It wasn't clear enough to see Diablo when we were up there but the views were still great.

The sun started setting as we made our way down and it added such a beautiful touch to a perfect hike day.  10.5 hours on the trail and I was ready to sleep.