I was a little concerned about air quality but the forecast suggested it might be okay, so I packed up and headed out to the Devil's Lake trailhead to sleep in my car and hopefully get an early start on the hike. The last time I climbed South there were groups headed out at all hours and I was hoping to tag along with someone leaving around 4:00 am. This year there were only a couple of early groups. I slept through a group that left at 2:30 am and had to wait until 5:00 for another group to go. Yes, I could have gone alone, the trail is well marked and I am a confident solo hiker, but walking through the woods in the dark is a bit too creepy for me. Too many fairytales start that way!
In any case, I asked to tag on to a young couple headed out and they graciously slowed their pace to allow me to tail them up the first 2 miles of the forest until the flat moraine section. The sky was lightening by this section and no headlamp was needed. The moraine section is a nice easy break before the steep adventure begins. The steep sections are challenging physically but taking lots of short breaks helps. I took many, many short rest breaks headed up the infamous “red mile” to the summit crater. At one stop, a very bold chipmunk sniffed out my snacks. Remember that whatever chipmunks eat, you probably don't have it in your pack so don't feed them no matter how cutely they ask! Once you finally make it up off the neverending red scree, it is a short, easy walk around to the true summit.
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Bummer that my first photo didn’t load. Hilarious that the grey-blue alternate header looks like the smoky haze though.