An early summer heat wave puts brakes on hiking; Fairview, Rogers Pass

 

Lots of Forget-Me-Not flowers below the summit ridge

Katie's girls on the summit

Good snow patches on north face below the summit

So beautifully green

Never did I think that Portland and Seattle would have high temperatures during the summer far surpassing our own, but it happened this week.

Portland, where my daughter lives, went to 116 degrees, the highest on record and several days in a row above the century mark.

Those temps are migrating this way in a wave that shows the thermometer above 90 for nearly 10-solid days at the very beginning of summer.  I can't imagine what happens when the July/August divide arrives.

Before this streak we got out and climbed Fairview Mountain on the Front outside of Augusta and went bitterroot hunting on Rogers Pass.  We saw our first Beargrass of the season near Rogers Pass.

These are both annual events.

I led a group of five of Katie's "Girls in Glacier" hikers up Fairview, a 8-mile climb with an elevation gain of just about 3,000 feet.

The wildflowers, particularly the forget-me-nots just below the summit ridge were outstanding.

I'm still hoping for some backpacking time when this heat wave breaks.  Soon?