Had a great day with great friends! Shelby and I (main partners in this hiking journey) were joined by our good friend Dipak, who we met in Wilderness Trekking School. We practiced pacing and taking bearings, using the map and contextual clues to identify our location on the trail, and had deep talks about life. We saw a group of 3 elk as soon as we parked, as well as a bunch of cute dogs and a couple of cute kids on the trail. We also met a pretty cool guy named Kevin at the peak. Some friendly girls took our picture on the peak as well, and we let them take their own pictures with our sign. The weather conditions were incredible (Sunny! In Colorado! Imagine!), and the foliage was thriving due to the recent bouts of rain. We followed our trip plan pretty well, made excellent time (25 min 11 second pace), and were home by early afternoon.

All in all, extremely successful first 6-pack hike. I had a great time, and can't wait for the next trip out!