Exceeding When The Chips Are Down!

This weekend was suppose to be a camping trip but I threw that by the wayside in favour of summiting something Saturday.  I came up with the idea of exploring Forgetmenot Ridge and put the idea out there to see if there was interest, and there was.  It took some work to get this together and there were a few circumstances that I had to deal with beforehand, and those, I will choose to forget.

It was suppose to be a sunny day but last night the forecast changed and not for the better but we were all still game to begin and would assess the skies regularly as we carried on. A kilometer into the hike, we had that famous river crossing.  It was wide and cold but that didn't stop us.

The ascent began right after the crossing and it was long, steep and relentless.  

Soon though, the views began.  

Forgetmenot Pond as always was pretty.

We could see Nihahi Ridge from one end to the other.

My hope was to hit two high spots today.  I had never been to the north cairn and I wanted to make sure I reached that today so that was first on our list.  The sky darkened during our photo shoot and then the sprinkles came.  I confirmed with all that all was O.K. and got a yes from everyone.   We stopped for a quick lunch break, in the showers.

My plan was for us next to do the little scramble up to the second high point but others were game to reach another high point first.  Through the mist and the cloud and the fog and the showers, we veered off to this cairn. It was erie to be here watching the weather around us and even at one point hardly being able to see directly in front of us.

Next, time for the original second high point which would now be our third summit.  Once again, we checked the sky and saw some blue and I thought "O.K. these are troopers and there is nothing stopping us now".  I looked back to see where we just came from and I realized what a lovely Ridge this is.

We did a short descent first on our way to the little scramble and the slope was polluted with crocuses.  

After the descent and ascent, we could see where we wanted to go next!

We would now go from Forgetmenot Ridge to Forgetmenot Mountain.

What snow there was, was easily avoidable.

With some blue sky, black clouds, no wind, a bunch of troopers, we summited the Mountain!    

After a visit on the Mountain, we began the trek back.  The sky was dark, our spirits were bright, feeling very content for already exceeding the planned distance, time and elevation. Others were scouting out a fourth summit but it was time to draw the line.

I like when there are added touches to the scenery.

...like this...

...and this...

...and these...

On the steep descent, I was feeling tired and a bit sore and looking forward to soothing my feet in that cold water.  I lingered a little longer in the river and it felt so good.  Once the pink suspension bridge came into sight, I knew the hike was over and was thankful.

This time around, there were numerous things that could have made this a very different outcome in a negative way.  Being with an experienced bunch of supportive, adventurous folks, who believed in making the best out of whatever was thrown our way made all the difference in the world and this being the case today allowed us to exceed expectations!