6 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain • 1 night
Short day hike, with a good vertical gain challenge. Hiked with a big group, including two dogs. Lots and lots of snow on the trail in June. Finding the trail was basically impossible, and the area is too heavily trod to follow tracks. Basically you can see the pass and you aim for it as best you can. I'm sure we made it much harder for ourselves by not doing as many switchbacks as the normal trail has. The view at the top is really great. Full-on Mount Stuart. Climb above the pass for a rocky ridge that's good for lunch. We glissaded 100s of feet on the way down for a laugh and a faster descent. Car camped with a big group at 29 Pines campground for two nights. I think it's free.
