Tonga Ridge / Mount Sawyer — Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023

Had a lovely hike up to the summit of Mt Sawyer from Tonga Ridge, with amazing views on a clear day. The road was in great condition with only a few spots of slow driving over ruts. There were a dozen or more cars parked at 9:30 on a Saturday morning; the way people parked on both sides there was not an easy place to turn around, which meant we had to back out a ways before getting to a spot wide enough to do a many-point turn.

Trail was in great condition, only saw 4 or 5 other groups along the 6 miles to Sawyer and back. One group we talked to said they’d seen a juvenile bear near the meadow past the mountain junction. Too late for wildflowers along the main trail and too early for berries, but there was some lupine and paintbrush blooming along the trail to Mt Sawyer.