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| The view from the top of Icicle Ridge |
We started this strenuous trail at eight in the morning in complete solitude.
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| The flower show began right away with some Balsam Root, past its prime, but still pretty |
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| Penstemon decorated the trail to distract us from how hard we were working |
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| After the first few switchbacks the views began to open up |
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| Climbing higher |
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| The views just kept getting better |
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| As we got higher, there were fields of Jacob's Ladder |
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| Climbing higher |
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| Just above 5000', there were fields of blowdowns to climb over. These really slowed us down |
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| Once we got above the blowdowns, the trail continued to ascend, now decorated with phlox |
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| Cashmere Mountain in the background |
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| The Stuart range |
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| A good omen perhaps, a circumhorizontal rainbow from ice crystals |
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| Glacier lilies |
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| A small snowfield |
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| On the ridge at last, after climbing almost a vertical mile |
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| We turned north and plowed through more snow |
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| Rocks around the old lookout site |
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| Another view from our lunch spot near the lookout rocks |
This was a wonderful hike and we were so happy we got to do it on such a beautiful day. We only saw one other person, otherwise we had complete solitude. We got back to the trail head at five o'clock.
Thanks so much, Keith, for helping me sort the pictures.
Stats:
Round trip = 12 miles
Elevation gain=4800'
Switchbacks=55
Blowdowns=75
Hike/drive ratio (from Leavenworth)=9
Date hiked=May 31, 2016
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