Hatch Peak

 I usually go hiking with my friend, Pam and her dog every Friday. But last night the weather forecast was so grim we wondered if we would even think about doing anything. But this morning, in spite of the rain and low clouds, I suggested we just head up to Hatcher Pass and see if maybe we could drive above the clouds. I was remembering last week on Marmot Mountain where we quickly climbed above the clouds and had a great hike. We found that we were totally in the clouds all the way up to the top of Hatcher Pass. But the visibility along the April Bowl Trail looked pretty good so we decided to just start out and see what happens. We were mostly in the clouds the whole time, but at least the trail was obvious and the clouds made things look kind of mysteriously interesting. The rocky areas were a little slippery but since it wasn't raining, they were not too difficult to negotiate. We made it all the way to the high point of Hatch Peak. This is the turning point if one wants to descend and walk the ridge over to Government Peak. That was certainly not recommended today. I had hoped we could just continue along the ridge from Hatch Peak and follow the vague path that leads down to the April Bowl Lakes, that I hiked recently. But the ridge was very obscured in the clouds and I didn't feel confident that I could find that route again. So after a short break we went back the way we had come. We didn't get the amazing views out across the valley that we usually enjoy here, but it was still very beautiful and a very enjoyable hike. We were both glad we decided to do it and our dogs seemed quite happy about it.