11 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain • 1 night
Had plans to spend the night on Flagpoint Mountain and enjoy the full moon. We hiked up to the Bennet Pass road, and there was still lots of snow above 5200 feet, so we shortened our goal by 3 miles and aimed for Lookout Mountain. Very slow moving northward just staying on ridgetops instead of trying to follow the Divide Trail. The Lookout Mountain summit was bare and inviting, perfect conditions in the late afternoon for an overnight spot. We set up camp and took a nap. The winds kicked in after nap time, and we had dinner huddled behind an old whitebark pine. The winds got worse, and we realized sleep would not be very peaceful on the summit, so we decided to break down our camp and descend below into the forest at sunset. It was interesting hiking in the snow in the dark. Found a calmer spot lower down on the Divide Trail in the trees.
