Mount Washburn

Okay, seriously, you didn't think we'd pass up the opportunity to climb Mount Washburn did you? The kids occupying the cabins left at 8:00am for their day in the park with counselors so we followed them down our little mountain and hustled out for the hour drive to the bottom of Mount Washburn. When we started the skies were blue and energy was high! 

Here is the first look at the Fire Tower on the top.

Here we are about 1/2 the way up. Making progress, slow and steady! Check out an example of two little guys we saw on the way up and down. The ground squirrel is so closely marked to the chipmunk that we thought it was just a fattened version. But not so!

The other little guy is a marmot. There were hundreds of the ground squirrels, chipmunks and marmots along the trail. Several of them ran alongside of us and posed so cutely. We surmised that people have been giving them food...a big no-no!

Oh look, we're making progress! Barbara Snow, our roomie in the cabin, is an awesome hiker and puts up with my slow, methodical walk. That's her with the orange pack and I am in front of her.

And we made it! The sign says elevation of 10,243 feet.

Still at the top. Note the darkening clouds starting to surround the area.

The room on the top of the Fire Tower is where one person lives for the entire fire season, roughly late June to the first snow in October. They scan constantly for signs of fires and radio the coordinates in as needed. Talk about lonely!

 There are two main trails to the top and from the tower we could see these sheep relaxing on the hillside on the trail we didn't come up on. By now we were starting to hear thunder and see rain in the distance, but decided to take the chance to go see the sheep up close and personal and then hike back up towards the tower to catch the start of our trail back down to the car.

These sheep were so close we could have hand fed them if we were inclined, which we weren't! This group included males and females but the newer members were behind the hill on the grassy slopes. More thunder and lightning, so we bid our goodbyes and took off for the other trail.

Yes, well, we got caught in some impressive thunder, lightning and rain for maybe 15 minutes, but the climb up and back were definitely worth it. Looking at the sky in this picture you can see the clouds are much friendlier and the walk back down was nice. Going up took 3 hours, down was 1 1/2 hours, another hour for the drive home and we made it back to the cabins a little after the kids got back, but hey, we're volunteers, right!?

Now, go back to the beginning and see the first picture. It is really the last picture of when we came down. See, we're still smiling!! :)