Birthday Peak

Make the accent early before the sunrise and catch the sun coming up over the alpine lake (Kronke lake) to the east… spectacular. We saw a marmot.

Made for a wonderful night of debauchery and indulgence. Candy and Mackenzie are amazing hosts and will ensure every one of your needs is met. Make sure to tip the wait staff they are quite helpful and happy to keep your drinks topped off.

The good: views, solitude The bad: There's not a sign at the creek where you head north (I'd seen a picture online so I recognized it). The trail comes and goes but you'll do ok if you keep heading north, you'll have to climb over fallen trees. There is a scree field once you exit the forest and it's a pain to climb across, on my return I stayed on the other side of the creek so that I didn't have to do the scree field again. Descending from the saddle I fell a couple of times. The ugly: the mosquitoes along the creek & the 400' vert rock climb from the saddle to the summit Kroenke Lake is a nice side trip that would add 1-1.5 miles to your hike and there were a lot of people backcountry camping there. The trailhead for this hike was crowded Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon.

Worst birthday ever