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| DSCN2703A.jpg A bad omen on any of our trips -- men with maps. Dirk, Mike, Ron, and Sherman each point to the trail starting point, and none is pointing to the same point. |
DSCN2704.jpg Sherman, Kathy, Janna, Dirk, Zona, Ron, Laura, Robin and Julia gather at the starting line. |
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| DSCN2705.jpg The trail starts with a good climb up to the ridge top through meadows of flowers. |
DSCN2710.jpg At the ridge top, everyone but Mike goes out to a vista point. |
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| DSCN2710A.jpg While Mike heads of to photograph flowers off the edge off the ridge top. |
DSCN2712.jpg An example of a tree riddled with woodpecker holes. |
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| DSCN2716.jpg Coming down the first ridge, the trail that Kathy, Julia, and Robin are on is much steeper and more slippery than it appears. |
DSCN2719.jpg About half way down the mountain towards Frog Lake. |
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| DSCN2723.jpg A small stream crossing. Janna is still up the trail taking photographs every 3 feet or so. |
DSCN2726.jpg Most trails are about this wide, through fields of flowers. |
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| DSCN2728.jpg Janna really gets into picture taking at Frog Lake. |
DSCN2731.jpg Time for the first break, in the shade near Frog Lake. |
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| DSCN2732.jpg Sherman parks his fancy cane and loads up with with what we assume is water. But, see the pictures at the end of the gallery. |
DSCN2733.jpg Laura makes sure that a hawk isn't after her snack, and the ravens aren't about to decorate her hair. |
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| DSCN2734.jpg Everyone was fascinated by the amazing burls on the oak tree down the trail. |
DSCN2735.jpg Kathy calls the wild turkeys. |
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| DSCN2735A.jpg Mike trails the group, heading through another field of flowers towards the next mountain top. |
DSCN2736.jpg Some of the flowers. |
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| DSCN2738.jpg Getting close to the highest ridge line. |
DSCN2739.jpg Robin, Julia, and Kathy work together to get up the short but steep final climb to the ridge top. |
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| DSCN2739A.jpg Ron, Dirk, Mike, Sherman, Julia, Kathy, Zona, Robin, and Laura at the second break. |
DSCN2740.jpg Chinese lanterns. |
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| DSCN2741.jpg The irises here are intensely blue. |
DSCN2741A.jpg Another typical field of flowers. |
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| DSCN2743A.jpg After falling off the side of the mountain, Mike gets his leg treated by Kathy. |
DSCN2743B.jpg Kathy's makeshift bandage. |
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| DSCN2744A.jpg Kathy's verdict is that Mike will not only live, but will be able to hike out of the valley. Mike is understandably elated. |
DSCN2745.jpg Zona's grasshopper. "Oh, isn't it beautiful? Look how beautiful it is", Zona says. "It's just a bug, for God's sake", says Kathy. |
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| DSCN2745A.jpg It's a steep climb up to the top of the first mountain again, but with lots of switch backs, making it easier than you would think. |
DSCN2745B.jpg This is the fifth time that Mike and Kathy have led this hike. And, as always, Mike always hates that last mile. "It's a pleasant 5 mile hike", he says, "unfortunately, it's 6 and a half miles long." |
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| DSCN2747.jpg Back at the top of the first mountain, we meet up with several other hiking groups. |
DSCN2748A.jpg Almost back to the ranger station, Mike points out who was the most devilish on the hike. |
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| DSCN2749.jpg But it's still a half mile to the ranger station, up hill, and we're all out of energy. So Mike rallies the troops who are all holding up one finger and chanting, "We're number one." |
DSCN2749A.jpg Proof that we made it back. But, now we have to walk yet another half mile back to the parking lot. |
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| DSCN2750.jpg Back to the parking lot, Robin checks for broken bones, torn tendons, and to see if her arm shrunk during the hike. Her arm used to reach all the way to her toes at the beginning of the hike. |
DSCN2751.jpg Laura and Julia solve the shrinkage problem by pushing their legs back up into their body so their arms will be long enough to touch their toes again. |
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| DSCN2752.jpg Back at Julia's, Zona oversees the barbecue. |
DSCN2753.jpg Ron acts as official food taster. Sherman seems to be tilted a bit -- perhaps he's already had too much to drink. |
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| DSCN2754.jpg After Ron tests the food, he passes it on to Robin to eat. Sherman is still drinking and is tipping even more. |
DSCN2755.jpg Is there anyone who didn't see this coming? |