On July 30 I hiked to the summit of Mt. Sherman. For most of the ladies in our group, including myself, this was the a first time to hike a 14er. We started our hike at 7:30 am and passed by a pretty stream with small red flowers, and some large yellow flowering plants that looked like they were from another planet.

We hiked for a little while past a few old mine buildings and over some rock fields. I can only imagine what life was like for the miners who lived and worked in such a harsh and remote environment. The view was incredible though!

After a little time we came to a slope. It appeared that our trail went straight up the hill, so we followed it and missed the easier trail that wound to the left. It turned out to be a grueling ascent up the side of a hill covered in small loose rocks, but after a lot of effort we made it to the top! I feel like 90% of the effort I put into the hike was this one hill!

This was probably not the easiest way up!

Once we got to the top of the hill the view was great and the rest of the ascent was just fun and easy. We met a few nice people at the summit including a professor from Cairo, Egypt, a grandpa with his eight year old grandson and a few very happy dogs with their owners. We signed the guest paper for July 30, 2012. Someone before us scribbled some wisdom on this rock at the summit:

We stopped for a little break on the summit to eat lunch and we started hiking back down before the storm clouds blew in.

Here we are at the summit! 14,036 feet!
Thanks to everyone for the fun and memorable hike!