On July 1st, it snowed all morning and I waded through snow drifts towards the peak.   On July 24th, the trails were mostly dry, the sun was shining, the flowers are blooming, and the views were expansive.   We could see Dunn Peak to our north, the Coast Range behind Lytton to our west-southwest, the Monashees to our east, and the Cascades barely visible to southwest.   The Sunburst Express Chair was busy with hikers and bikers all day.   As we climbed into Crystal Bowl we found a new trail, but we chose the traditional route up to Top of the World, then followed the West Ridge Trail and the Summit Trail to the top of Tod Mountain.

To vary our route, we followed the Tod Lake Trail back, then came back by the new Top of the World Trail.   The new trail is not yet worn in fully, but is less rocky and follows a good view line along the ridge towards the Headwalls.   The flowers are out with a show of Indian paintbrush, cow parsnip, columbine, shooting stars, lupines, spring beauties, mouse-eared chickweed, tiger lilies, and pussytoes.    The height of the alpine meadows show is not yet here, but the ride to the top is worth the fare.   We will have about 3 weeks more of the best garden show in the Interior.

Spring beauties were the feature flower on the West Ridge Trail.    Some snow still lingers on the north slopes of the hills, but most of the trails are dry and in prime condition.   The route to the peak of Tod Mountain is 5.1 km each way.    We try to hike these trails 3 times each summer while the chair is open.   The meadows are in our back yard and are a must-do every summer.