10 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
The forecast called for north winds. The thought was to get some views of the Cougar Creek fire on Mount Adams. First attempt to accomplish that would be climbing Sleeping Beauty. When we got to the trailhead, the smoke was so thick we didn't even bother getting out of the Jeep. The second attempt was hiking in to Lemei Rock from the east. When we got to this trailhead, the smoke had diminished enough, we could still plausibly breathe as we got out to consider whether to continue. (First photo was taken near Trout Lake.)
Undaunted, well, not much anyway, we decided to make a go of it. This trail turned out to be delightful, and virtually unpopulated. It was an awesome place to practice, for the very first time, off-leash hiking with Harleigh! He spent just as much time making sure he still knew where we were, as we did him! What a joy. Never seen a little guy enjoy his freedom quite so much.
As we walked, we stopped numerous times to enjoy the huckleberries, and take a gander at what were supposed to be views. Nothing but smoke. Kept going, and found a few more folks clustered around the base of Lemei Rock. Visibility was perhaps a mile, at best. Decided there was very little point in climbing the rock, only to see the smoke better. So we found a lovely little tarn, had a nice lunch, then just wandered back the way we'd come.
Great day with an old friend; just not quite the day either of us had envisioned. Ah well! :-)
