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It was beautiful morning as seen in this photo here looking across Summit Lake.
The upper section prior to gaining the west ridge wasn't too bad and certainly speeds the ascent. It took 1.5 hrs to get to the top of the ridge from the TH. The photo here shows the section clearly as we approach. It is on the right side of the photo just to the left of the snow field.
Looking back across Summit Lake from below the ridge a little ways. We came across about 100 yards up from the lake to avoid the snowfields and marsh.
Looking up through the boulder field that leads to the ridge.
After gaining the ridge, Sawtooth and Bierstadt come into view.
Nice shot of Sawtooth and Bierstadt after hiking a little further along the West Ridge towards Evans.
Shot of the ridge towards evans. At this point you are about a mile from Evans.
The hike along the west ridge was uneventful and we summited at 9:30am. It seemed we were the first ones up and didn't see anyone until the return across the ridge. We decided to return via the Spalding route and summited Spalding for this beautiful view of the Lake.
Back at the parking lot by 12:40pm. Met a number of people coming up during our descent from Spalding including two skiers planning to ski down the large snowfield shown at the end of the lake in the first photo. There was quite a large cornice at the top which made for a tricky start to be sure. Unfortunately we never saw them start down before completing the trip.
All in all a great day!
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