8 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain •
The balsamroot is just about at peak up there, which was a good enough reason to take the afternoon off. Because of the sudden onset of the rather extreme heat and my late start (3:00), I took the loop "backwards" and went up the Augspurger trail then back down the normal approach, which made a nice bit of variety. Hardly a breeze on top, so the bugs were quite bothersome. Didn't hang out long, but just kept wandering instead.
