I decided to bike to the trailhead (about 10 miles and 600' of gain), and I left sometime between 5 and 6. I reached the trailhead a bit before 7, and I started the hike right around 7. The weather during the segment up to the Maiden Pools was cold and cloudy. There was a good bit of water in the pools (noticeably more than there was a week ago). I stopped here for breakfast, and then I went into turbo mode. I encountered a little snow behind the rocks containing The Window.

I reached The Window around 10:30. Since I got there so quickly (by my standards), I decided to spend a while messing around on Esperero Trail. I relaxed for a while at The Window, and then I headed over to Window Peak. There was just a bit of snow along the way. I encountered a ton of ladybugs just before the final tree-assisted climb to the top (which was easy despite looking scary before I got started). I hauled myself up to the summit and spent a while watching clouds and ravens fly by. The view up there is great! After I got back down to the saddle, I decided to hike to the top of the peak on the other side. I'm glad I did, because the view from the top of the rocks near the summit is pretty darn good.

After going back down to the saddle, I took my time working my way back down. I found a great stick (after breaking several) that greatly helped my no-so-great knees handle the descent. I finished around 5. During my entire hike, I only encountered 3 other parties (all in the lower sections of the trail). The bike ride back was a breeze because it was almost entirely downhill. It was a great trip, and I'm so happy that weather/scheduling allowed me to finally make it all the way up to The Window and Window Peak.