Government Peak

I hiked up the Government Peak Race Trail today with the Valley Wanderers. That is a very steep long climb. I was worried that I would lag too far behind them to have any chance of reaching the top. But even though I did fall back a bit when I stopped to take off my jacket, I wasn't terribly far behind. I ended up hiking with Jo and Charlie when the others had gone on ahead.  The trail was in excellent condition. My previous memory of it from the only time I did it in the past, about 16 years ago, was that it was very wet and muddy. But today it was nice and dry. There is still fairly deep snow near the top. When we got to those long snow patches, my companions decided they were tired of snow. But those who had gone ahead were just started to descend. So Baby and I pushed to the top. I found the snow was almost easier to walk on than the loose scree and rocks and the bouldering in the dry areas. The wind was blowing very hard so we didn't stay long. I took a few pictures and some other climbers took some pictures of Baby and me. I took one of Baby at the summit marker. The view of the surrounding mountains was just amazing, since they are still mostly snow-covered. I could see right away our only choice of descent was the way we came up. In summer the route down the Blueberry Knoll Trail is gentler, but right now it is all deep snow, and likely a possible avalanche threat. So we all hiked down together along the race trail. It was a great hike of about 8 miles round trip. I'm glad I got to do it again under such ideal conditions. I usually climb Government Peak via the April Bowl Hatch Peak traverse from the Hatcher Pass side. It's longer but certainly not nearly as steep that way. This trail was challenging and a terrific workout as well.