This is one of my favorite destination hikes (and the least strenuous), and my fourth time there. The 10 miles of forest road took me an hour. (Others may drive it faster.) The rock slide is just after the Huckleberry Creek bridge at 6 miles in, and not much problem; the remaining four miles are less potholed, so there's that to look forward to!
I arrived at 8:15, three cars and another arriving. You can read more about my best ever day on my blog, I'll hit the highlights here.
There are mosquitoes, had I remembered my head net, I would have worn it. Especially in the beginning boggy bits, but best be brisk all the way to the meadow. But they weren't terrible, and no flies, I hate biting flies more. Once in the meadow, there was a breeze and they were gone.
Half a mile in, a family of elk galloped through the trees parallel to the trail, then crossed ahead of me. A thrill! Nearing the first small meadow, two parties told me there were two bears, one eating in the trail. They had turned back. There was no way I was turning back. I didn't see them, and was disappointed. Other parties passed me, everyone saw the bear (singular). Grr. Two people thought it was acting "oddly."
The flowers may not be quite at peak, but don't wait. Already some of the avalanche lilies are curling in on themselves, but right now they are spectacular. In the meadow, the lupine and paintbrush are beginning, and there is a sea of alpine cinquefoil and phlox and others. My experience is there's a fine line between peak and dried up in this meadow that has no water.
The mountain was clear as a bell in the morning, but when I turned back at noon, clouds were rolling across it. This has happened every time I've gone. Go early!
I saw ten parties of people some of them more than once. We were well spread, and I was otherwise alone. And then I saw the bear. A young couple I'd seen twice before, who knew I was hiking alone and that I was disappointed to have missed it, walked back from the small meadow and waited for me. Perhaps both so I would have company, or so they would, and so I wouldn't miss it again. So thoughtful. It was grazing near the trail, they said it had climbed up on a log and watched them, then returned to grazing. We watched for a while as another party joined us. When we walked by noisily, it leaped onto a tree. It had been in the same spot for hours, just at the edge of the trees beyond the small meadow as you hike in. There was no scary behavior, just a bear doing the bear thing.
There was a breeze going down, and even at the lake, no mosquitoes until I got back to the bog.
(Banner photo taken as clouds were rolling across the mountain. By the time I left the meadow, it was nearly obscured.)
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