Today I hiked to my first summit of the season. 10 of us set out from the trailhead at Milner Pass, negotiated a steep mile through the woods, and then popped out onto the tundra for another 3.5 miles to Mt. Ida. The wind chill made for a cool day, but we were rewarded with a calm spot to have lunch at the summit - something that never happens! Fortunately, although the clouds kept building, they were passing to the north and south of us.

These first two photos are from the summit - the top one (with Jim and Judy) looking southeast towards Longs Peak in the background, the second one looking west at the Never Summers.


On the way down, we were extremely lucky to spot a ptarmigan nest. The mother had been sitting on the nest doing a great job of camouflaging her spot. We just happened to get a bit too close, and it was only after she flew off the nest that we saw what lay beneath. A few quick photos, and we moved far away so she could resume her job.

The early tundra flowers were exceptional. Carpets of forget-me-nots dotted the landscape, as well as fairy primroses and alp lilies.


And just to make it an even more memorable hike, we saw three big horn sheep as we were hiking back along the tundra to the trailhead.