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| Hiking | 5.50 Miles |
1,100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.50 Miles | 2 Hrs 45 Mns | | 2.28 mph |
| 1,100 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | | I only had about 3 hours of time to get this hike in before getting back to the campground to cook my wife's birthday breakfast, so I decided that this trail would be the best option to get up to treeline and enjoy the views from the alpine tundra. I arrive just before sunrise, and only one other car was in the lot. I had the trail all to myself as I climbed steadily up through the Hudsonian forest. For late August, there sure were a lot of wildflowers present, and this would be the case up in the tundra at the top of the hill as well. Saw the sun crest over Potato Hill to the east, and some thin clouds over the West Needles turned a pale red. As I approached treeline, the massive head of Engineer Mountain came into view. Striking. At the popular log resting spot, a group of three 20-somethings were breaking camp. I chatted with a woman as she enjoyed her morning coffee. They were planning on climbing Engineer once packed. Not having enough time to climb Engineer myself, I turned right at the trail junction and followed trail #508 for a quarter mile and enjoyed the views east to the Needle Mountains. I left the trail and cut through a field of false hellebore and climbed a small hill (11762) that offered a nice vantage of Fuller Peak and its neighbors. Enjoyed the sights as I strolled across the grassy tundra to Engineer's climbers trail, and started my descent downhill. What a lovely hike! Someday I will come back and climb Engineer, it looks like a blast. I'm also interested in climbing Jura Knob just to the north. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
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