Only once a year? Really? Well, fine. You only have Thanksgiving once a year. Christmas only comes once a year. We only have a birthday once a year, even if you can manipulate Facebook into declaring it your birthday whenever you want. So I guess Rampart Ridge is only once a year.
And if that once a year happens to be on a concert night, well, tough. It's only once a year.
The weather wasn't ideal, but it was good enough. Of course, in a year like this that's not saying a whole lot. As usual, I was with Scott and Eric. The yellow dogs were absent, but Treen ran with Bear. (No, not a bear, the Bear.) What about Matt? He was somewhere behind us. Bear didn't care.
Above the tarns we caught up with some others. Treen thought about chasing marmots, but was confounded by the chirps ricocheting off the rocks. Poor dog. So much fun to be had, but nobody to play with.
On the summit there were a bundle of people that we totally didn't know. What a surprise that so many people would show up on a Thursday night and be completely unassociated with TNAB. I mean, amazing, huh? Good thing, though. Since too many people in the wilderness can be a problem.
Meantime, the clouds blew through and the sun set. It was lovely and it's the reason to put aside other obligations.
We descended through the darkness and finished a great hike at the Pour House. Of course.
Total was about 4.4 miles and 2,300 feet.
