Bald Mountain summit hike

This was our destination today:  the summit of Bald Mountain, elevation 11,900 ft.  A 4 mile round trip hike with an elevation gain of 1,200 ft.

 Approaching Bald Mountain pass where the trailhead begins.

 The trail begins in the pines, but very quickly moves above timberline.  There was a good breeze the whole time and we were never hot (and thankfully not chilled either).  A perfect day for hiking.

 Looking down into the valley after climbing a short ways up the trail (just clearing timberline)

 Hiking back and forth across the face of this steep rise.

Looking up the trail after cresting the steep rise.  The apparent summit in the picture is a false summit, with more trail climbing beyond it.

Parking lot for the trail head.  Our van is down there in the loop.

David - about midway up the trail

Looking the other way up the path from where David is standing (above)

Doesn't even look like there is a trail, but it crosses the ridge about 2/3s up.  We could see people moving on it, but the camera didn't quite capture that.

Farther up the trail, same view with lakes in the distance.  The wind really picked up at this point.  We were thankful when someone coming back down clued us in that at the summit the wind was actually not as strong. 

Steepest drop along the trail, several other climbers chose not to go beyond this point, but it was ok with us.  Amazing to come around this bend and see the other peaks in the distance that we hadn't been able to see until this point.

 Yep...snow.  Not much left, but still there and melting.

 Last part of the trail headed to the summit.  You can't tell from this distance, but the trail goes to the left of the snow over some very large boulders (with large crevices under them).  You wouldn't die if you slipped, but a broken bone seems a distinct possibility.

 

Lake shore view of the mountain lakes seen from the summit.

Waterfall near Bald Mountain pass.