Hiking the Fourth of July

I started out at 6am. It was cold and the mountain was still in shade. I knew if I didn't take some pictures along the way, I'd regret it. So I made myself get out the camera and take a few shots.

Here's me not far on the way up... The way up is the only way. The Fourth of July Trail goes up 5.3 miles to reach Icicle Ridge. The higher you got the better the view.

As I get closer the top there was a really thick frost all around. It layered the trees and ground. Around 9am I met the sun and it quickly began to melt the frost. I was walking through a group of dead trees when the sun had warmed them enough to begin to loose their frost. It was almost like an isolated snow storm, but so charming! I'd never seen anything like it before.
More to come soon....