Belknap Crater

Trailhead is immediately off hwy 242. Trail starts with some surrounding trees and then quickly turns into exposed lava field. The cool, partly cloudy conditions

With the road open to Belknap Crater, the wife and I decided to snag a permit and head out yesterday to tackle our 7th peak. 

Felt like I hiked through Mordor. We pretended we were Sam and Froto the whole time. LOL. The views were great at the top. The

I decided for my sixth summit to do an evening hike to catch the sunset and Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS. It was a bit smoky so conditions

My REI rain jacket was not water proof. Very cold n wet. Storm hit just below the summit. Ominous foggy vibe in the lava field.

The conditions were quite cold and rainy, but we were determined to summit. The silver lining was that we did not have to worry about