Marmot Mountain

 I hiked with the Valley Wanderers today. The trail didn't look very promising because the mountain and most of the peaks were pretty much enshrouded in low clouds. But Marmot is one of those peaks that can be easily climbed when completely in the fog. It's basically just a ridge walk as soon as you get to the first false summit. It's really impossible to get lost up there. There are many little trails that lead up to that first summit, but they all eventually lead there. Bella assumed the lead followed by Julia and her two big dogs, Trigger and Pumba and me. Julia likes to keep Pumba away from other people because he is huge and tends to push his way around. Since Bella likes to lead, and always goes with the leader, I kept up with Julia and Bella's much bigger canine buddies. We were in the clouds fairly soon and could no longer see the rest of our group. We would stop and wait for a while but once we got cold, we would move up to the next good stopping point. Judith eventually caught up with us and the 3 of us and the 3 dogs enjoyed our lunch on the highest point. Sarah finally arrived but Terry stayed down by the weather station with her dog, Chili. It was a really nice hike and quite beautiful except for being totally in the clouds on the summit. But it was mysteriously beautiful on the way up and down as the clouds swirled around us, periodically giving us glimpses of the valley below and the other mountains. I love hikes like that because they are really enchanting and make for interesting photos. I ended up running down most of the way and Judith finally caught up and passed me. But Bella took off after her, so then I ran a bit faster carefully trying not to trip over every rock, then caught up with Judith just before the parking lot. It's steep enough that it's almost easier to run down than to try to walk down, trying to brake with every step. I just kind of hop and skip my way down in places like that. The ridge up Marmot is really interesting with unusual rock formations. It feels like a much higher mountain than it really is, just because of the steep cliffs that drop off the sides. There were several snow patches that all 4 of the dogs really enjoyed. They all loved eating their mountain snow cones. The hike was only 2.8 miles but had almost 2000 foot elevation gain.