7/27, Tuesday. Took the day off (replacement of a prior PTO day) for a day hike. 5 of us piled into M's car at Ash Way P&R shortly after 7am. I took the middle seat, and was surprised that no one offered to exchange seats with me. Skyline Divide is a very popular trail due to the short length. Weekday is a good idea. Even Tuesday, 15 cars in the parking lot.
Flowers were the best before you reach the ridge. Out in the open, this dry summer has a toll to the flowers. They were mostly withered. Shuksan and Baker are staring at you. View is expansive. No snow along the ridge. Saw some backpackers. Need to lug water.
I took 2 small detours to crest 2 knolls. First one is just a couple of minutes. The 2nd one is a bit longer, but has better view and its north slope had more flowers.
At ~3.5 miles (the 4th knoll), turn right and up along the ridge. (The left fork goes down to Deadhorse Creek for camp sites, and maybe more flowers). All along view is expansive. The best patch of lupine is on a west slope (odd) further south. Baker looms closer and closer. The trail gets more rocky, and flowers change.
We turned around here, at ~4.5 miles. Lunch, rest. A patch of paintbrush. Quite some harebells and phlox.
On the way back, we stopped for drink/food. 4pm is too early for me to eat dinner, so just ordered a beer. M showed us photos he took recently during a 12000 mile drive in Canada. M dropped me off at downtown exist. A great day. Beats typing on computers!
