Ape Canyon — Friday, Jun. 23, 2023

We cleared the first mile of the trail the weekend prior so the first mile was on cruise control.  After that we ran into lots of heavy duff, small branches, encroaching vine maple, and a few downed trees, but nothing difficult to get by.   We kicked and tossed lots of the small branches off the trail on our way up and down, but there's still plenty left if anyone has the mind or energy to do that same.  

There were 2 small snow snowfields to cross after the junction with the Loowit, and 1 larger snow field just below Pumice Butte.  All were easy to cross.

We arrived at Pumice Butte just before 8am to find a group of 13 mountain goats (including 3 babies) lounging at the base. We cut across the wash above the spring as to not disturb them. Once on the other side of the Spring we sat and watched them for a while before walking across the pumice plain to the junction with the Abraham trail.  As we were walking North a lone mountain biker came from behind us and passed by.  We turned around at the junction saving Windy Pass for another day.  On our return to the Spring we passed a solo Loowit hiker who was tackling the trail CCW. 

Back at the spring, we hung out a while longer taking in the views and topped off our water before heading out. Other than a pair of mountain bikers heading up in the forested area of trail we did not pass anyone else the rest of the day.

On the way up the road to the TH we'd passed an abandoned snowcat (snow grooming machine, not an animal :)) by the time we returned it had been removed and the FS was in the process of removing the remaining snow (which was minimal) from the road. Presumably road 83 will be fully open tomorrow.

Minimal flowers yet, there was some heather in bloom, a little bit of prairie lupine.