The Climb

Our friend Mike wanted to go with us on a mountain hike.  After some discussion, we decided to ascend Marsh Peak (12,240 ft/3100 m), north of Vernal.  The trailhead is at 10,000 ft, so the climb is relatively easy. 
Here are the guys:

Here are the guys conferring on the route:

Did I say easy?  I must have forgotten about the rocks...

We made it, though, with Daisy's help:

Here's Mike exhalting in his success:

From the top, we looked down at Twin Lakes in the Dry Fork drainage,

and off toward the Uintas, hazy in the distance.  (We had smoky air from surrounding fires that late August day, so the views weren't as clear as they might have been. 

Here's a striped gentian, which I thought was unusual: 

And some harebells, growing among the rocks:

And, of course, there was the requisite mystery flower:

In all, we hiked almost 10 miles and 2200 feet elevation gain and loss.  Mike might have gotten more than he bargained for, but I think we all enjoyed the day.

For more sky views from all over the world, click here.