ammon.azza.org

View more pictures of this trip HERE

Went up with a bunch of guys from my ward, including Howie. Started off fairly early in the morning. We were at the trail head just at dawn. The air was cool and the clouds were low, which gave for a really awesome sight when we hit the red pine overlook. The trail was somewhat steep, but nothing too bad. At red pine lake things start getting a little harder. It takes some scrambling up talus to get to the upper lakes, then a slog up a really steep hill with loose scree. Luckily there were patches of vegetation and more stable ground to go on. once on the ridge, we got hit by th wind. Pretty nasty wind in fact. We made our way across the alpine ridge past some fun third class scrambling. We opted to take the Maybird Gulch side of the ridge during our scramble which made for some sweet exposure. Once we reached the base of the peak, the hike up it was steep, but didn't take nearly as long as I thought. Before I knew it we were on the summit. We took some pictures, ate lunch, joked about finishing the ridge and going down bells. I talked to another hiker who had just done Moran this year. We hiked down rather speedily, and were back to the car by noonish.