This is one of my favorite hikes. We started out with a huge group of 20 Valley Wanderers. The intention was to break up into smaller groups based on our individual hiking speeds. I tend to be a bit slower, plus always start out with Bella on her leash. I tend to lag back so she doesn't tangle with the other hikers. But, Bella insists on being first and was practically pulling me off my feet. I gave up early and had to let her off her leash. She was quickly out of sight and I was forced to push as hard as I could to try to keep up with the leader of the faster group. The first part of the route is a popular trail and easy to follow, although there is a bit of rock scrambling in places. About half of the group gathered at the top of Hatch Peak, before heading down the ridge towards Government Peak. The route is only partially trail from that point to the Government Peak summit. Some had not done it before so we tried to keep keep in groups as we traversed the ridge. It seems to go on forever sometimes, small hills followed by rock pillars, followed by steep descents, then more of the same. Most of the snow was gone and the trail was nice and dry. The views in every direction are extraordinary and it's tempting to just hang out and take pictures. Bella continued to race ahead and stay with the leader. When I lost sight of her, I called her. Sometimes she would come and quite often she either didn't hear me or just didn't care! Sometimes I wasn't sure if I saw her or just a little ground squirrel on top of the rocks. I hated disturbing the peace by calling her name, to make sure she was still ahead when I lost sight of her. Someone would always assure me that she was still up there. I do wish she would stay closer to me, but she loves her freedom. At least she does always stay with the group. I was starting to get get really tired and almost dizzy at one point during a long sidehill part of the climb. I prefer staying high on the ridge for that section, but felt safer sticking with the rest of the group.We took a nice break before the final ascent to Government Peak, which really rejuvenated me. When I reached the top, Bella was there waiting for me. We had a lunch break and spent quite a while there enjoying the summit area. Bella made the rounds getting snacks from everyone's lunches. We started down in small groups. There are two ways down, the steeper Race Trail or the longer but gentler Blueberry Knoll Trail. We took Blueberry Knoll route down the ridge. I also think that's the more scenic route. Partway down the ridge, Charlie and Julia stopped for a break. I managed to get Bella to stop there too. We stayed relaxing in the sunshine long enough that Bella had no choice but to stay near me, because everyone else was out of sight. once off the tundra and into the trees, the trail is more tedious and a little slippery, but not really muddy. It seemed to take forever to complete the 7 mile traverse. The toughest part is the last couple miles down from Blueberry Knoll. Probably because by then we were all exhausted. But I love this route and I'm sure I'll do it at least one more time this summer. I managed to lose my sunglasses somewhere along the way. But at least I still had my dog when I got back to the car. I drove Charlie back up the mountain to her car that she used to drive some of us up to the start at April Bowl.
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