We left the house at noon. A group of nine bikers waved and smiled at me as they passed me on the road, and I wondered why. Then I realized it was because they saw all three dogs' heads out the windows. That must have been a silly sight to see!
We made it to the trailhead at 12:40pm. All dogs were excited to start walking. I was a bit concerned about the dark clouds and also worried I wouldn't do very well since I haven't hiked elevation since late July up Mt Wrightson with Ellen and Holly. Although I didn't break any personal record, I wasn't hurting, either. I stopped three times for around five minutes to drink water, but never did I feel week our out of breath. The dark clouds over the peaks worried me, and I hoped I'd make it at least two miles up to the aspen grove before turning around.
Weather was actually ideal. Minnie wasn't suffering under the cool clouds. There was water at the falls and at the springs I brought five 32-ounce bottles as well (but no snacks). It drizzled briefly half-way up the trail, but that also soon stopped.
The aspens were at their prime in the lower grove, but nearly barren in the upper grove (probably because the upper grove is on the eastern slopes and gets more wind.) The wildflowers were mostly gone, as all I could see were various yellow flowers. I didn't even see too many birds at all. I came across a headless and tailless rattler on the trail. I hope it wasn't killed by a hiker. People need to respect wildlife of all kind.
Two groups of people coming down the trail warned me of cold winds at the peak, but I didn't think it was so bad since I was already wearing two shirts and had a windbreaker in my pack. My thermometer read 70F on the peak at 2:37pm. The sky was more overcast by now and darker clouds were coming, but it didn't threaten to storm. I got to the peak in 1:56 hours.
We played fetch, drank water, and went back down and got back to the truck with plenty of daylight. I wasn't in bad shape at all!
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