My friend and I climbed Silver Peak via the Mirror Lake trail and the PCT. The cairn that marks the unnamed trail up to the ridge between Silver, Tinkham, and Abiel is hard to miss. The parts of this hike that are on the official trails are mostly shady, while the ridge and the summit pyramid only offer intermittent shade.
Other than a swarm of winged ants on the summit, there were virtually no bugs. The 360 views from the summit were marred by the haze, which hid peaks more distant than Stuart, including Rainier.
Beyond Mirror Lake, there were no noteworthy water sources.
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