[wolfs]

A fun after work trip. Using the road to gain elevation to Windy Pass is sure handy! More snow down under Silver than I would have guessed. Snow starts about 1/2 mile up PCT and is mostly continuous until you reach the saddles at bases of either Tinkham or Silver depending on which you're going to. The snow is nicely consolidated, if anything occasionally too hard despite the warm days. Only posthole issues were at undercuts by streams. It was doable in light trail shoes but I did get 'em wet with all the slipping and sliding and pitiiful step cutting. But it's never that steep down in the trees so an axe is superfluous even on the hard snow. On Silver once you are past the second saddle, it's all melted out, so snow not a worry on the parts it does get steep. Very pretty display of glacier lilies just below the talus field, and then more excellent flowers as you continue up - paintbrush lupine heather penstemon asters phlox all together. I'd forgotten we had such a nice flower show so close to home. I'd also forgotten what a fun little scramble Tinkham is. The final 100 feet has just enough exposure to it to feel like a scramble yet not a nervous affair. Next time though, for an evening scramble, will do Tinkham last, because it catches the evening light much better than Silver does. Rainier was out, but overall visibility down a little because of thunderclouds to east, and haze.