DoorJamb LoderPeak August 8, 2010

Not only should you embrace life but how about embracing the weather too!  Enjoy the sunshine and make the best of the situation when the rain falls.  That's how we dealt with Mother Nature today!  (Only me and you, you being the one who finds this stone, will know what is displayed on its back.)

I did this hike/scramble back in March under different conditions.  Agent-X wanted to see what was under all the snow we saw in March, so I was happy to be able to join her.  We took a different route up this time which made this more of a scramble/hike instead of a hike/scramble.  

We still reached some of the same places but just in a more challenging manner.  Until this point the sky was clear but we could see a storm brewing and quickly.  We got the scramble out of the way and worked our way up that sticky rock stuff before it got wet.  Although portions of it were already wet.

Once we got off DoorJamb and sumitted Loder Peak, we signed the log then ascended down the rocky gully.   I prefer the rocky gully with no snow.   By now the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly and the temperature rose.  We took a long lunch break.  Some folks napped, some continued to eat, others scrambled around and explored the area.

The first portion of the creek bed was the same route as before but this time we were able to carry on quite a bit further down.  It got quite interesting and scenic.  We came to a very narrow portion where a lady was coming towards us and trying to get her dog to follow her but the dog had a mind of his own and he was a no go.  She told us that you had to straddle and support yourself with your hands and feet on either side of the walls as the water was too deep to walk through.  We decided this wasn't for us, as it started to sprinkle again and the walls would get slippery.  We climbed a short portion and hiked along to where we saw caves and tunnels and overhangs.

We came out at the same place ending up at a large long wide rock field.  Talk about timing, we were just about at the trailhead and the sky opened and it poured but it didn't matter at this point!  We hopped in the van, laughed at our photos on the way home and shared treats.  This was the kind of Sunday I like!