13  members of the  Friends of the Umpqua  Hike Group after a briefing by Jane, our leader for this hike, started off for the peak.

The first hour and half was  through  wooded areas of hemlock and white pine following an  incline up a sandy to dirt trail. Very easy walking. We could see the peaks of Mt. Thielson, Bailey and Diamond Peak on the way up.

Also crescent lake and at one spot see the three sisters to  the north. The next 30 minutes of the hike was a steeper climb over loose rock that looked volcanic in formation. The final 30-40 feet was a hand over hand climb almost straight up over loose shale rock to a rugged top where we enjoyed our lunch. Ten of the 13 hikers made it all the way to the top.

And this was the "second" time for Jane as she had just made the hike a week or two earlier scouting out the trail in preparation for our hike. She is really an inspiration to us all. In contrast to our previous hike up Cows Creek, where we found lots of edible berries, on this hike we only saw a few low bushes of huckle berries which were definitely past their prime.

It was intriguing near the top to see small clumps of vegetation growing in virtually bare rock.  This was definitely one of the more challenging hikes of this season. In contrast to our previous hike to Mount Scott, where we encountered wall to wall hikers and had to cue up to climb to the look out  tower, we met very few hikers on this trail.