...we hike on. : )




Very wet ridge travel, with the intent of visiting Williams Peak again. A fine drizzle fell for most of the morning trip up, making the bush saturated.




Reached the drop off point for the summit in good time, but with the drizzle continuing, no visibility and both of us being completely soaked, we decided to play it safe and try to reach the end of the ridge.






We made it as far as the 1850m bump just before the end of the ridge. We have done the entire ridge before, but it was in our rookie year and I sort of remember a bit scrambling, exposure and needing to help a reluctant Katie to get to it from this point. I think Katie remembered too, as she wanted no part of dropping down to continue on. No problem, I didn't feel like it either.




It wasn't a 'stop and eat lunch' kind of day so far, so we immediately turned to head back. As we reached the drop off point for the Williams Peak, the rain stopped, clouds started to rise and the sky brightened slightly.




The peak appeared for a brief moment. It was almost noon, so I decided to give it until noon and if the conditions continued to improve by then, we would give it some serious thought. Takes about an hour to summit from here.




Williams disappeared rather quickly, and I came to my senses.




All the water we had shaken from the bush on the way up the ridge, had somehow replenished itself while we were gone. The sun had started to show itself as we descended off the ridge, so we took some time to wring out the socks and dry things off. A bug free day, but the flies were really bugging her here.




A few 'see ya next time' chews for her favourite set of antlers.




And the only wildlife we came across. I'm guessing these guys give off very little, to no scent, as Katie walked right over this frozen fella.

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Cool John.

Always enjoy your reports, a fun read everytime.

Been up on the ridge about three times, but never onto the peak. Hope to change that this year.

K

Ha ha, first photo summarizes your hike nicely!

Nice rainy day TR.
Always good to see current snow conditions too.

Good stuff! I'm such a fair weather hiker.

... one spaghetti western too many ;=)

Love the first shot. That pretty much says it all for the season so far.

What's katie's age? She looks in very good health and seems to soldier on no matter where you two go

Thanks everyone. : )


She will be 9 in a few months. She has had a rough 12 months with 2 sprained wrists, surgery to remove another cyst, and being beaten up by two mastiff-x's, but thankfully dogs don't fret about the past. As of right now, she would say she is doing awesome. Both wrists seem to be as strong as ever. Will be needing another surgery to remove more cysts soon, however. Thanks for asking. : )

Thanks again, guys. : )

That's great news. She's a real fave on the threads. Good to hear she's got a human hiking partner that looks after her

"being beaten up by two mastiff-x's" .... ugh, really sad that kind of stuff goes on. Glad she's ok

Peaked : )



From the left: Jamie, me and Greg. Unfortunately, Katie had a slight limp when I picked her up, so she stayed home. Met these two along the ridge as I was taking a break from the humidity. Turns out Greg was one of the gentlemen I came across on the ridge to Goat a few weeks back, but at that time, wasn't aware I was the lesser half of team J & K. I am so anonymous without her. : )

When reaching the point of the ridge where I have always dropped off into the boulder field to access the peak, Greg and Jamie mentioned they had always continued up the ridge a bit more before leaving it to cross the boulder field. To see which way was more efficient, they went their way, while I went mine and they ended up a few minutes ahead of me once across the boulders. These two are fit and fast, and I am pretty sure they topped out long before I did.

After a long summit stay, I said my goodbyes. A few sprinkles of rain started to fall soon after. Once back in the boulder field, I decided to try the route Jamie and Greg took and much preferred it over my usual route. Less boulder-hopping and loss of elevation.

Back on the ridge around 2:30 when things got very dark. So dark, I had to double-check what time it was. Nope, it wasn't anywhere near sunset. I was suddenly in a downpour of heavy rains and pea-sized hail. Then came the constant thunder and lightning overhead. I was still in an exposed part of the ridge, so I picked up the pace to reach tree cover. Quickly travelled the entire ridge under the storm, which I must admit, made things quite exciting and interesting.

Once I started descending off the ridge to the car, the storm overhead had moved along. Although it did continue to rain lightly. The steep trail down was slick, but thankfully I was getting good traction in my boots and made it back without incident. Never did see Greg and Jamie after leaving them at the summit. They packed super light and were in runners, so hopefully they made it back down in one piece too.

I have been caught in the heart of a thunder/lightning storm high in the mountains once before, but we were in a tent up at Upper Pierce Lake.

Quite an end to a day that started out so bright and sunny. : )

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Well John.... LOL!