Pigeon Mountain October 31, 2018

Our October 31st hiking destination was to be the summit of Pigeon Mountain!  That meant it was time to dig out my Halloween costume and pack it in my pack to donne for a devilish summit shot.  If there is a reason to celebrate than count me in, I will embrace it to the fullest extent of the occasion!  

We arrived at the trail head parking lot to find we would be sharing it with a few large trucks, plus trucks with horse trailers.  I knew that meant we would be sharing the territory with hunters.  Been there done that up on Pigeon for a prior year's Halloween celebration.  Since my last visit here, a new sign has been placed at the turn-off.

When we reached the opening, we took a few minutes to layer up and up and up!  There was a wild wind that contained a high wind chill.  I was happy to see the dark dismal clouds were clearing way to blue sky.

We began the assault on the steep slope!

We spied three hunters blending in with the trees and ground cover.  When they spied us, they came down slope a bit, stopped and waited for us. We chatted and it was a good exchange of words, good thing!  I have experienced otherwise on that prior visit up here at Halloween time.   We carried on in one direction and they in another.  We reached the ridge and checked over the side.  My friend is taking in this amazing view.

I like how the clouds move and create shadows across the mountains.

We reached the summit and it was so crazy cold and so wickedly wildly windy!  I layered up even more so for our short & sure I will call it sweet summit visit.  It was hard to get my devil cape on in the first place and that much more difficult to control it.  Every couple of minutes I needed to confirm my horns were still securely in place.

our group summit shot

Once our business on the summit was dealt with, we rapidly as possibly began our descent.  I was cold and felt like I had been spun out of control in that crazy wind.  Yet, that did not stop me from still taking time to "remember to breathe" because it was truly very pretty now.  Before moving on I captured the summit view.

I checked back to have one more look at the summit of Pigeon Mountain from another angle.  

It was becoming prettier and prettier. 

That dark disguise on the left added a touch of spooky to the pretty! 

the clouds whirled & twirled

conjuring up... 

...what looked like a  cauldron spewing out a brew...

but a tasty brew

We were fortunate today to not have to contend with ice or snow.  

The slopes are steep in this neck of our playground

 so the lack of those wintry conditions made for easier travel.  

As you can see in the lower right corner, I got kissed today!  

That's what I like to call it!  

Someone is watching over  me!

One last look a way back at the summit where we were!

One last look in front of us before heading into the trees.

We reached a spot in the trees where we were sheltered from the cold and the wind and we could delayer and delayer and delayer.  I saw movement up on the ridge and spied the activity with my eye and my camera.  I could see they spied us too.  It was good to know they knew where we were and we once again knew where they were.  As they began to descend down slope we knew it was time for us to go on our merry way.

We were ready to roll and I shot one last shot of the blue sky and sunshine.

The last five to six kilometers went by very quickly.  I was happy to be out of the wind and back into warmth again.  I always enjoy my adventures up Pigeon Mountain.  There is lots of effort to reach the summit but the work is worth it the minute you reach the open and are awarded outstanding views.  It's not a far drive from the city and it is a mountain that you can almost count on owning.  We did share the terrain with the hunters today but both parties knew we could each co-exist here safely.  

Thank you for today!

&

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!