Cheers on Sawteeth

 

I started out the summer hiking season with a stroll up the Lake road on the AMR property. This road has many options as it leads up the valley between the Great range (north) and Colvin/Dial Nippletop (south). I gave some thought to other options but in the end opted for the shortest hike to Sawteeth. The peaks were initially socked in but by the time I reached views on the trail up Sawteeth the clouds were starting to lift and by the time I got to the summit there was a the usual stellar view of the upper range. I met a group who are working on the 46 and toasting each new peak with a sip from a flask, cheers! On the descent I took a tipsy stumble after catching my foot on a root and was lucky to land in a muddy soft spot on the side of the trail. Before returning to the Lake road, I made a quick stop at Rainbow Falls. This is a beautiful spot and well worth the side trip. The Lake road was as always a pain as the hard road is, well, hard on the feet in comparison to the trails. A great start to the season!