I Need To Go Again

As you can see from my Peakery Badge, I have been to Paget Peak twice.  

I need to go again! 

I am not sure when that will be, but it will be!

The first time we unknowingly only made it to the false summit and I came above bruised and bleeding.  Today we made it a little further to the true summit but yet, I still came away bleeding and bruised.  My goal for the yet to be third time is to go further then the true summit to where the truly gorgeous views are and come away unscathed.  

We started the day bright and early with bright skies.  

It didn't take long to get to Paget Lookout.

The higher we went along the steep section, the bigger the views became.  

This is looking west towards Field down in the valley.

A full view of Sherbrooke Lake came into sight.

We are warned that somewhere down there roams a grizzly bear.

We did see recent diggings along our trail.

We reached the false summit under dark clouds, light sprinkles, strong winds and a cold temperature.  I came prepared to celebrate and no matter what, that was going to happen as this year is a special one.  So here I am on the false summit with one of a dozen "Bliss" mini cupcakes.  Mine was chocolate with green mint flavoured frosting on top decorated with a blue candle.   Thank you to my friends for sharing today with me!

The Peak was colorful and rocky!

We cut our lunch break short as the weather was deteriorating and we wanted to make sure we at least made it to the true summit.  You can see the summit canister at my foot.  If you reach the true peak be sure to peek in the canister.

The views were great from here considering the weather wasn't.  A little further along this trail though, I hear the views grow from great to spectacular.  Mount Niles appears to be surrounded by a collection of new snow.  

Three times here will be the charm!  

The following sights are not charming!

War wounds acquired on August 13, 2011.

War wounds acquired today!

The descent off Paget Peak was slow going over scree, big rocks and through a boulder field all the while raining, changing to light hail then to sprinkles and when we arrived back at the Lookout the sky cleared, it warmed up, we dried off and landed back at the trail head pleasantly depleted.  It was such a treat to get the socks and boots off and change into clean cloths for the long drive back to the city. 

When I reflect back on today, I was glad to be able to share it with some old friends and to make some new ones.  I have been lucky to experience some wonderful adventures this summer and there are still more to come that have the potential to be bigger and even better.    I feel like I am the luckiest girl on earth these days!