Hannegan Pass and more

We had a hard time deciding where to take the Senior Trailblazers hike today. Although Heliotrope Ridge was on the schedule, the main river has lost its bridge, so we decided to take another trek up to Hannegan Pass. We went there almost two months ago and figured it would be different enough now to make it seem entirely different. (Our August trip to Hannegan is here.) The weather forecast was for clouds in the morning, clearing to at least partly sunny by afternoon. Our first view of the valley looked very promising, as you can see from the first picture. Blue skies, clouds, and perfect hiking weather!

As we made our way to the pass following steep switchbacks, you can see that the clouds don't seem to be lifting. Fred and I went ahead to start our trek up to the pass, with the others interested in heading up that steep summit (1100 feet in a bit less than a mile from the pass) to follow after a short snack. Eleven Trailblazers were on the hike, and many would be happy with making it to the pass (an 8-mile round trip and 2,000 feet of elevation gain), having lunch, and heading back down.

Fred and I started up to the peak, but the weather didn't look like it would be clearing any time soon, and as you can see, the trail was really steep! I was going as fast as I could, but it wasn't much faster than a trudge. There was no view to pull me upwards. We then noticed that nobody was following us, so after a half hour of upward progress, making it up another 600 feet towards the summit, we had a quick lunch and turned around. When we got back to the pass, we found Al and Steve waiting for us; all the others had started back down the trail, as the temperature had dropped precipitously and there was now no sun at all. The four of us began our descent to join the others, and of course the sun began to peek out. You can see the trail (enlarge for the best view) in the sunshine below us. The sun never did come out to play.

You can see that the clouds are now lower in the valley, and we were perfectly comfortable as we headed back out of the wind and altitude. Other than the fact that the views were truncated, and after stopping for lunch everybody was cold, it was actually a beautiful day for hiking. Since Fred and I traveled an extra half mile and 600 extra feet, we covered nine miles and 2,600 feet up and down before we got back to the cars.

I stopped on the way down to take this picture, showing the red leaves and the clouds, typifying the October day we spent together on the trail. At least Fred and I got an extra mile out of it! Now I'm home enjoying my wine and getting ready to take a nice hot shower. Am I lucky or what?
:-}