Left house at 5:20 AM. Arrived at the Windy Ridge trailhead at 8:10 AM. Total hiking time: 4 hours, 51 minutes, and 10 seconds. Total distance: about 6 miles. This time I was careful not to put myself into difficult or dangerous situations, and I came out of the hike without sore feet. It was a relatively easy day on the trail: a great payoff per effort ratio. The photos I took are of even more spectacular scenery than the ones I took 9 days ago.

it was 59° when I got to the trailhead. Sunny and visibility was crystal clear. Hike was uneventful until the Loowit Trail petered out climbing out of a steep gully. This was much too challenging to my sensibilities and so it blocked me from hiking further and I had to turn around and retrace my steps, sparing me from making any effort to do the impossible this time out.

Before reaching the gully that stymied me, the washed out trail out of a much larger gully was too steep for me to climb out of, but I was able to pick my way up the wide gully and found a spot I was able to scramble up onto the ridge until I came to the washed out gully mentioned above that finally frustrated further progress.

Views along the Loowit Trail were spectacular. Last time (9 days ago) the dominant blue flower was the beautiful penstemon. Penstemons were still out, but meanwhile the lupine had bloomed, and in unbelievable numbers. There were solid patches of them covering hundreds of acres. Jaw dropping.

Milestones: Started on hike at 8:30 AM, or 0:00 o'clock hike time.
1. 0:58:16.39 o'clock (58 minutes, 16.39 seconds into the hike): arrived at Trail 216E, 2.25 miles into the hike.
2. 2:28:24 o'clock (1 hour, 30 minutes, and 07 seconds after the previous milestone): Arrived at a Loowit Trail landslide washout, trying to get to Loowit Falls. Stopped for lunch and sunscreen just before the washout.
3. 3:01:27 (33 minutes and 3.40 seconds after previous milestone): Started back after this 33 minute break.
4. 4:51:10 (1 hour, 49 minutes, and 42 seconds after previous milestone): Arrived back at car.

Took 222 photos of which 135 made the cut.