Since Monday was forecast to be about 10 degrees cooler than Sat. and Sun., we chose to hike on Labor Day. The 9 miles on the dirt roads have some washboarding (FS 12) and potholes (FS 13), but nothing to prevent any vehicle from reaching the trailhead. Arrived at the trailhead at 8:30 AM to find a dozen or so available spaces in the lot.
The clouds were below us at the start of the hike, but occasionally they'd move up the valleys and obscure the views of Koma Kulshan. We even had a few short periods of large raindrops as we approached the upper meadows.
As mentioned in a previous report, the first (on the ascent) of two large stream crossings was simple in the AM, but required a bit more planning in the afternoon due to increased flow. Poles are helpful for the rockhopping.
There were a few wildflowers along the way - pearly everlasting and fireweed in the lower meadows, one patch of lupins, and a few monkeyflowers near the stream crossings. However, there are ripe berries along nearly the entire trail. Mushrooms (amanita) were also popping up along the trail through the lower meadows.
Comments