Minor traffic getting out of the city, plus a closed ramp.
Filled water at the Coldwater boat launch, then drove to Johnston Ridge for "sunset". It was chilly and overcast. No sun at all. 8pm.
A bunch of youth were racing their cars in circles, churning up a lot of dust, heat and noise in the giant and empty parking lot.
Cooked and ate dinner on the paved walkway facing the mountain (without seeing it).
Tried the new stool I bought from REI recently, works quite nicely.
K spent sometime at the top of the walkway to talk to his family.
Back to the boat launch, I pitched my tent at the end of a paved walkway, away from the traffic.
Tried a new quilt. The night was not cold, so it worked fine.
K settled into his car, and later claimed that mosquitoes kept him awake late into the night.
7.17, Sunday. Cloudy :( I got up and packed ~7am. Read my book while waiting. The park service crew came and cleaned the restroom. 2 boaters came and chatted about fishing. One guy had 2 lines, on kayak. The other one's boat seems motorized (is it allowed?) A whole class of REI gathered here with ~a dozen kayaks. 2 runners. At 8, I woke up K. It was getting too late to start, considering his pace. Cooked breakfast here. We didn't start hiking until ~9:40am!
Paintbrush was doing quite well along Johnston Ridge. Penstemon and lupines too. Still not as well as I had hoped with more than normal water this year.
Along Boundary Trail, similar, more paintbrush than other flowers.
The view gets better after the junction with Harry's Ridge.
More thimbleberry, a lot of strawberry flowers.
North of the rock hole, some columbine and mariposa lily.
Near the junction to Coldwater Peak, there were some patches of snow on trail, but easy to cross. Met 2 guys who came back from both Coldwater Peak and Mt. Margaret (that'd be almost 20 miles RT). They started at 5am. Half way on the zigzag to Coldwater Peak, one snow patch posed some trouble. On the way back, we took a different route to avoid it. Didn't use spikes which I brought. Quite some pasqueflower, some in seed form, some in transition. Some spirea. Not as much as I remembered.
The summit had 6 people when we finally arrived (~13:30).
Could see none of the mountains that I promised. Still excellent view.
Too cloudy, but the temperature was very pleasant, and I only drank half litre of water.
Quite some pink penstemon on the rocks.
Ate sandwiches and cherries.
Back as we came. At the junction of Truman Trail, I was hesitating, because it was getting late (3 hours behind my estimation).
K decided to go down to the pumice field with me. ~30 minutes later, just past the pond, he turned around. I gave him a phone with the GPS map, so he wouldn't get lost.
He, instead, worried about me, and handed me a walkie-talkie, and called multiple times. Honestly, it's a hassel.
I continued to the junction of Loowit Trail as planned, and turned around ~5:50. As my last few times here, flowers are excellent.
~6:30pm, I found K waiting for me by the trail :(
We walked back up together.
By then, he was getting quite tired, so going slowly.
Then his phone beeped, and he was going even slower, txting while walking.
I don't understand why anyone needs to be online while outdoors.
We finally reached the parking lot at 8pm!
No sunset today either. Cooked some food, tea for K, and beer for me. Bathroom break. No more TP in lady's room. Got home almost midnight. I had trouble staying awake on the drive back. I enjoyed the hike and company. But next time, I need to find a shorter trail for friends who don't hike regularly.
Monday, received O's message from Saturday.
