Starting out April 30th after driving down the night of the 29th for a cold night in the campground. Pictured are me and Gary.
We will have our car shuttled to the other side for us. Pictured is Gary and Rose.
The flowers are in bloom and make for an especially beautiful hike. The purple color is magical.
Rose stops to get more water. We all had packs around 20 lbs.
It is a clear day, in the high 60's, perfect for hiking.
The trail is in really good shape with lots of bridges over rivers and only a few downed trees to climb over.
The river is visible from the vast majority of the trail.
There were not a large number of rafters, surprising as permits are not yet required.
Have to admit it would also be nice to be floating down the river.
The fields are also beautiful. However, there are also many ticks in the grass. Gary is an expert at identifying flower, animal, birds, butterflies, and ticks.
I worried Rose by taking a short cut over a very deep gully.
We camp in this area, 27 miles from our starting point. We were going to camp at mile 23.5 but missed the campground, felt good, and just kept walking until we reached the same campground Dad and I stayed in last year.
The deer around Paradise Lodge. We were looking forward to coffee in the morning but a sign said the public is not welcome until 10:00am and we passed by around 7:45am.
This is where the volunteers live that take such great care of the trail, restrooms, bear boxes and visitors.
Another picture of the river. We finish hiking shortly after 1:00 for our 40 miles. The car is waiting for us at the end as promised. We stop by the store for some gas, tasty beverages, and food. We don't realize the normal route is still closed due to snow until we get to the top of the pass and have to turn around and head out the northern alternate route. It was a WONDERFUL hike. On the drive back a car in front of us looses two tires and Rose discovers a tick on her that Gary expertly removes. We make it back home around 9:00.