We arrived in the Half Moon camping area in time to gather wood, start a fire, and cook at tasty meal over it before nightfall. The following morning we would hike to the summit of the 2nd highest mountain in the lower 48. Our plan for an early start on the mountain was overcome by the disheartening chilly morning mountain air. Mike and Matt drove 20 minutes out for coffee.
We left our tents up, and head straight away to trailhead, starting up at about 10:30 am. We met Mike and Matt's friend from SCC, Genevieve, who had summited with a friend of hers. They were on their way back down. Further up the mountain, the 2-3 ft snow began to seem too much. We pushed through, loosing one out of every three or four steps to the slick slope. We spent several hours at the summit, making tea and heating up some of last nights dinner with Matt's Jetboil Flash.
We started down the dark side of the mountain, with the sun falling quick. We reached treeline just before dusk. The sun set, and we made the last 30-60 minutes of the hike by the darkness of night. One more night by the cool mountain stream, and I was ready for Taos!
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