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The prior night was pretty cold due to a light breeze which blew through the tent.  This was great though as it meant we had zero condensation in the tent making our morning pack up easy and the tent pounds lighter (dry tent == good tent :)).   We hit the trail around 9am in high spirits – the hike out was meant to be beautiful and with blue skies we would have a wonderful last day on the trails.

The trial did not disappoint – though we have 2100’ of climbing back to the car the views were simply amazing.   This was by far the best day on the trails and we were all (including Jilly) in high spirits.

After climbing for about an hour we took a short spur trail to an overlook at the cutely named Hoot Owl Camp which has a epic view across the valley to Rampart Ridge.   From there we continued to Lucky Pass and then finally headed through Eightmile Pass before descending back to the car at the trailhead.  This completed our estimated 50 mile loop.

Overall the trip was ok with some really high points (hiking from East Pastayten out) and some super lows (Bunker Hill day).   Compared to my prior trip to the Eastern Pasayten this was a disappointing trip as there were very few views along the route.   I’m sure my perception would change if we’d had good weather on Bunker Hill.  Despite all this, I really did enjoy the trip.   This was our first serious backpacking trip with Jilly and she did super well.   She settled into a routine on day 2 and learned to hike behind me in a nice heel for hour after hour (Lynn gets the credit for the training :)).    It’s super encouraging as she’s barely 2 years old and will be better behaved as she matures.

All in all, it was great to get out and away from the city.