Summerland

Summerland Avalanche Lilies and Marmot photo shoot 7-1-09
I set out for Sunrise today not knowing which trail I would pick, I stopped at the ranger station and after chatting with the rangers and they said the marmots are out at Summerland so it was an easy choice for me. I started up at 9:15, way later than I should have for a hot day! I forgot what summer hiking was like, you got to start earlier and bring more water! I will remember that going forward. By 10:00 it was hot in the shade even. I stopped and chatted with a nice woman Michelle and her two sons, I think. They were camping at White River and going to do part of the Wonderland trail in August. I told them some other trails to do in the area. We frog hopped over each other a few times and they set up towards Panhandle gap. Trail is in great shape, about 6 spots of steep snow but nothing too bad, bugs are starting to come out. I had lunch on my favorite rock and watched the marmots for a long time. We had a bit of a photo shot. I was in heaven! I could watch these guys all day! One guy said he saw a bear around 11:00 in the meadow to the right of the big bridge. I didn’t see any today…bummer.
Today was definitely an epic hike for me. 9 miles of bliss - 6 hours car to car. The photo shoots really slow me down. I can’t wait to go back in a month or so when snow is melted and flowers are out.