6/24, Sunday, a dozen of us met at Gateway at 3pm. Someone was still on his way when the first 3 cars took off. I had to pile into the backseat of a Toyota Tahoma, not very comfortable, but was grateful to the ride. The last 2 miles to Ed's Trail TH is terrible, worse than I remembered. Our driver enjoyed this bumpy road. Saw people hiking out on this road.
We didn't start hiking until about 5:30pm. Quite hot. 90°F in Portland today. I carried my umbrella. Ian, a transplant from Florida, only carried his white camera, no water. Amazing that he survived the heat. Flowers were everywhere. 
Beargrass was doing well. Some irises. All along we could see St Helens, Adams, and barely Rainier. Too hazy today. We did a skinny loop, up on the east to get a tiny bit of shade, and back out on the road. Saw a goat near the arch and some avalanche lily there. I scrambled up a plateau near the turn around point. Nice, but other than 1 small spot, it's not flat enough to put tents down. The ground is rocks, so not smooth.
After 7:30pm, light got softer, temperature dropped, the moon was out: 3 days till full moon. Pretty soon, it is apparent that we were not going to have a proper sunset. Clouds were too thick. The group gathered around and agreed to leave. We were pretty much the only people there. 
It's nice to have this beautiful place to ourselves. Easier to see Hood in the evening sun, than in the hazy heat. It's also good to drive out of the ditches in the remaining day light. We got back to Portland ~10:30pm, and Ian and I got a lift home.
