. This screenshot was taken on Friday for Seattle. It turned out even hotter than the prediction. According to Komo News on Monday, the hottest day ever in Seattle history was Sunday at 104 degrees. Monday would reach 108F!
6/26, Saturday. 5 of us met in Lynnwood at 5:30am, and headed to Robinson Mountain in 2 cars. The hike leader R specified "strong and skilled team". So I wasn't sure if I'd be okay. I rode with S and Ir. I've only met Ir before, she's older and slower than me, but has been to all major volcanoes in WA. At least I wouldn't drag the group behind. However, it turned out that the heat rendered her so slow that it nearly caused a disaster.
Robinson Creek trailhead is almost 4 hours drive from Seattle. Not too many cars here. The creek is a few steps away and Methow River is close by. The trail starts road-like. It crosses the creek twice, on two bridges, so not easy to fetch water. There's a smaller creek crossing between the two, where you can refill. Somewhere there, Ir said she's feeling week, would like to go back and wait for us. With the heat wave coming, this is not good. We each took some of her gear and let her lead (to set the pace). At least she'd have a cooler night at the camp (~6800').
Immediately after the 2nd bridge (~2.8 miles), turn right, uphill onto Beauty Creek trail. Steeper, less shade, getting hot. At the end of the official trail is a flowering slope. Just before that is a creek crossing, where we had lunch and refill.
An obvious track is at the begining of the flowering slope. It's steep, no shade, getting hotter. Once the steepness eases, the trail becomes faint. Just keep the creek to your left, and continue straight. Larches, glacier lily, shooting star, then snow.
The tarn at the end of the basin was still mostly snow covered, but the area for camp was mostly thawed. I found a small patch of snow and pitched my tent. Cooling off by the lake. Saw a couple slding down the steep scree to our right. Inquired about the conditions. Many larches, but the trees are small, so not much shade. As soon as the sun dropped behind the ridge, the temperature dropped to pleasant level. I was actually a bit cold in my 45°F sleeping bag. Lots of little biting flies. So we hid in our tents. I read a bit and went to bed early.
6/27, Sunday. Got up early and started hiking at 5am. Pleasant temperature. 
We went up to our left, reached the south ridge of the SE Peak. I took to the snow with ice axe, my team stayed on the rocks.
The view on the ridge is excellent. Still many pesky flies. 
From here, the ridge walk is fairly straightforward. We stayed on the west side or on top. Only one minor scree to cross, which on the way back I took to the ridge proper, much easier.
Drop down a bit after the SE Peak. Two stretches of last snow clang to the east slope of the ridge. I was able to fill my water bottle with snow.
The false summit is the best part of climb. Steep but solid rock.
Reached summit at 7:45pm. Once Ir arrived, R brought sake to toast the success. They all signed the summit registry. 
We headed out at 8:30am, hoping to beat the heat to the car. Retraced the ridge back to the SE Peak. Here we took the SE ridge instead. A group of trail runner coming up along this ridge. At its lowest point, I had trouble going down the steep scree, especially the upper half. Met 2 people coming up here. I think I'm the worst of our group on scree.
Packed out. We waited, and I read my book. I stayed behind with Ir because of the trail was faint. We headed down at noon, already warm. At the creek below the flower slope, S waited for us. We took some gear from Ir's pack, and filtered water for her. Then 3 of us walked out together. But soon the distance between us streched out. From here down, the trail is straightforward. So we didn't worry. I found S waiting by the 2nd bridge in the shade. I took a photo of the waterfall behind the bridge, and then took my book out and waited for Ir. S went ahead to the car. I checked the time once awhile (the timestamp of the photo was 3:52). At 4:40, I thought Ir passed the bridge without seeing me in the shade, so rushed out. By then, everything in the sun was baking hot. I reached the car, saw a note on the window. Found my group chilling by the creek, a few cans of sparkling water sitting in the water, and a watermellon. Ir wasn't here.
About 6pm, sensing something went wrong with Ir, R and E went back up the trail to look for her. Soon I heard noise and found 2 EMC cars arriving in the parking lot. Someone has dispatched search and rescue. I talked to the 2 rescuers from these cars. They informed me that a group of mountaineers behind us found Ir lying on a log by the trail about 2.5 miles in, unable to move her hands. They poured cold creek water over her, forced her to drink and called 911. Soon one of them hiked out saying that Ir was in a bad shape, then another one told us she threw up. Around 7, they all walked out together. What a relief. Ir seemed in good spirit. The ambulance checked her thouroughly, and released her. After watermellon, we drove back with her fallen asleep in the car. Then S drove her home. On Monday evening, S and a friend went back to P&s;R to deliever her car. I forget Ir's gear in my backpack, and delivered on Tuesday morning. What an ordeal!
Many lessons:
- always keep group members in sight
- make sure everyone in the group has similar strength and skill
- heat is a factor when calculating schedule
