[Jackal]

Haven't posted in a long time but I thought this would be fun to share. No, it's not a model of how plate tectonics has anything to do with how Vesper formed. Anyone who's been up Vesper knows that the granite slab scramble is one of the uniquely joyous parts of that hike. On Friday two of us (coincidentally, both former earth science teachers) were navigating that stretch (who needs cairns up there? part of the joy is the decision making) when we came across this beautiful lithologic bas relief plate boundary model! I left out the photo of the teacher modeling a classroom lesson with hiking pole pointer.

Where specifically is this you ask? Can't say because you know... gps locations change as plates move around so who knows where it will be in the future? Don't follow the cairns and maybe you'll find it! What else... Friday, there were 8-10 cars maxing out the parking area. Started very slightly smoky so we decided to go for it and midway up there was a nice 15-20 minute shower which cleared out the air and ended up with blue skies. All parts of the trail are in good shape and the variety of terrain and views were wonderful as always. Except we were stunned by the lack of snow on Glacier Pk.

[HitTheTrail]

[Jackal]

[Snowshovel]

[Jackal]

[Anne Elk]

Great shots approaching the summit. I appreciate seeing these b/c the few times I've been all the way up, a lot of it was still snow-covered. Looks like you had a perfect hiking day, with the brief rain helping clear the view. Your photos make it look like hardly anyone was there.