Everything was sunny and bright until right at the highpoint. Even the parking lot was sunny, yet, only 2 miles away, a dark cloud loomed over the highpoint. It was a little chilly, even in August, and the wind was whipping around in gusts. There were a few families on the trail, but the conditions weren't the best.
Had we not been wanting to make this a 4 highpoint trip, I would have come back on another day!
From the parking lot - not the summit, but a nice view from the outhouse.
Clouds moving in, note mountains in background.
There was about a mile of rock scrambling, it was wet, and the wind was
gusting up to 40 mph. Would have been easy on a dry day.
This nice vista was off to the left, about half way along the trail.
Now you can see the peak disappearing into the cloud.
Did I mention we also had a few loud thunderclaps about now?
Thunder makes me nervous at altitude. Probably not too
smart to continue. What really amazed me was parents
with small children continuing in these conditions, with just
jeans and Tshirs. We had rain gear in my pack.
As we got up into the cloud, the rain and wind increased.
It became difficult to see, and to walk.
Watch the video link below:
You can see the two white blazes on the rock. At this point we
find ourselves straining for the next blaze. Dave starts
to disappear, but he's only about 50 feet ahead.
I'm sure this would have looked even nicer in the sun!
And finally, a summit pic! Note, rain gear is now on!
My pal Dave, now the summiting beast-
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