There were about fifty people on our hike, ranging in ability from "mountain goat" to "good lord, I thought they would have to drag me."

There is, at least for me, a noticeable difference in objectives between the hikers. Many seem to have an almost "heads-down" approach - where peaking is the objective, and then you have people like me who are there for the hike, rather than the peak. I see the fun in getting there, the peak is kinda' anticlimactic. I would have as much fun if I took the wrong trail, although I wouldn't get a patch for that, so I guess staying on course has a plus.

The last mile was definitely the most difficult - It was typical dry conditions for the first seven then all of a sudden there was about six to eight inches of hard-packed snow; it was amazing how stark the difference was from one foot to the next. The first third of the last mile was mostly hard-packed, the next third was slush, the final third was mud and most of the peak was dry. It was both a pain to walk in and a nice surprise to enjoy.

There was a big 52 mile mountain bike race that hit the 42 mile mark at the peak, went down the road and then down the Holy/Cussin' Jim Trail. We had a rest where the trail came to the road and it was wild watching these guys fly off the road and down the trail.

This was our first usage of Ultralight Joe's Moose Goo & tortillas - very effective in energy, space and weight.

Since my toes didn't have any problems, coming down was more enjoyable than going up because it took the pressure off the heel. I think next time I'll put in some mole skin as a preventative measure. I think I had maybe a dozen, maybe 20 miles max on the boots, I pretty much doubled it in a day. Tiffany may want to do a few day hikes, so I may throw in a couple to like Switzer Falls, Sturdevant Falls, etc.

The Scouts had a great - not to mention challenging -  time.  It was awesome, but I was glad to get back to the truck.

The view from the peak.