Only four Cascadians hiked today--Babs, Cookie, Ed, and Omar. We had a great time on the way up, taking our time, enjoying the thousands of flowers that edged the trail, and taking dozens of flower pictures.
Though the skies were overcast, it was comfortable at the top, with practically no wind blowing. A chipmunk or two entertained us while we lunched.
When we made the return trip, we were dumbfounded by the destruction of wildflowers done in the name of "trail improvement." We hikers are so careful to leave the wildflowers unharmed, but while we were at the top, trail crews had massacred all the flowers on both sides of the trail, for five or six feet on each side. Nothing was left! [June 2004: the flowers have not returned! Incidentally, the people who should be responsible simply pass the buck when asked.]
The orange sign says it's trail improvement, so we'd better believe it!
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