Gold Star and POW/MIA Peaks

 Today was a spectacular climb up Gold Star then on to POW/MIA. The weather was perfect; the trail was perfect. It was the best time I've ever hiked up there. Pam went with us and was worried she would not be able to keep up with the group. She really didn't have any trouble at all and really enjoyed the beautiful hike. It seems like a very long hike because it's quite steep. But in reality, it's only about 4 miles round trip. But the trail has very few switchbacks and basically follows the fall line all the way to the top. We were very fortunate to have the entire trail all to ourselves too. There is only room for about 5 cars at the little turnout where we have to park. But the 5 of us drove up in 3 cars and had it all to ourselves. We did run into a couple of other hikers on our way down, but no one else was on the upper mountain with us. It was 70 degrees out with nonly a light breeze. Typically, it is a howling wind on top but today the light breeze was a welcome addition. We took a nice long lunch break under the POW and US Flags. I hiked down the ridge until I reached the steep drop off so I could get the closest photos of Twin Peaks. Bella went with me of course. Instead of following the ridgeline back to Gold Star, we hiked over to the far ridge where we could look out over the valley below. I love that part of the hike because the ridge is full of interesting rock formations. Bella took off on her own at one point, and I had to yell "Treats" loudly to finally get her to catch up with me. She likes to explore up there just as much as we do. The trip down through the rocks and scree was a bit slow going, but we were soon back down to the saddle where we took another break. The lower trail was nice and dry. We took another nice long break in a soft meadow on the lower trail in the sunshine. We all wanted to just stay there and sunbathe for the rest of the day. But of course, we did need to go home. It was an awesome hike as always. Plus, it's a great way to pay tribute to our fallen heroes who made it possible to have the freedom we have to do such a hike.