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Cheers to another year in the books.  Although I don't like getting older, I figure it is better to be 11,000 feet high than 6 feet under.  A combination run, trudge, rock climb, or whatever it took to get as high as I could in a couple of hours.  I ended up claiming some unknown rocky peak at 11,138 feet and was rewarded with some pretty spectacular scenery.  The plan was to run up Black Canyon Trail from the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead in the direction of Lawn Lake and the heart of the Mummy Range.  A good chance to scout this record snowpack and I really didn't expect to make it to Lawn Lake.  As it turns out I actually got a little higher than Lawn Lake in elevation, but there was no way I was doing any more waist-deep post-holing up the trail through Tileston Meadows.  So I just put the make-believe crampons on my Hokas and took it straight up the side of a mountain (it was easier).

Today's adventure: 15.66 miles, 3994 feet of climbing, GPS data here

Black Canyon Trail at 10,000 feet.

Black Canyon (Trail?) at 10,500 feet.

The Mummies

The valley below.  Longs and Meeker socked in to the upper right.