Hard Knox Fail 8-10-2013

On Saturday I took my nephew Julian for a hike near Salmon La Sac, where the rest of the family would be arriving later for an annual camping trip to celebrate the life of my mother.


A large group was disappearing from sight at the top of a meadow as we pulled up at 10:30. The first few switchbacks through the meadow were very overgrown. The afternoon heat must have arrived early because we were stopping at every bit of shade along the trail. We stopped to talk to the large group on their way back down about ten minutes below the first junction. They were visiting from Chicago and were overwhelmed by the mountains around them, some said they had never seen anything like it. I suggested that they venture further north into the Cascades for a real visual treat.


Automahn and Julian were both having a hard time with the heat by the time we reached the junction with Thorp Mountain Trail. We ventured to a small outcropping of rocks overlooking Thorp Lake. We ate lunch in the shade and watched someone fishing on one side of the lake while another swam on the other side of a peninsula.


The temperature continued to rise and Julian had had enough before we crested the first small peak on route to Hard Knox. After failing to coax him along we turned around flew down the trail and shared a watermelon at the truck before heading to the campground.