Michael sets up near the peak for a shot looking east over the mountains toward the rising sun.

For a few minutes the peak was 9429 feet tall. This stack of rocks was blown over by the wind just before we left. The peak is now 9425 feet tall again. If you look closely you can see Flathead Lake between the other peaks in the background.

We started down from the peak toward the east and found a place that was partly protected from the wind so that we could cook breakfast. We altered our original plan of hiking to the Garden Wall and out through Picture and Lucifer Lakes. We decided instead to cut through Vacation Pass and stop by Sonielum Lake on the way down. We realized later this may not have been a good idea. Here Michael stands in front of a high glacial pool near the top of Vacation Pass.

Here is the same pool from another angle.

This is a picture of the inlet to Sonielum. This is one of my favorite lakes in the Missions. We didn’t stop here because the bugs were to thick. Untill this point the hike had been very pleasant. The hike from here down was kind of miserable (lots of cliffs, heavy brush, and backtracking), but we made it down to the trailhead at about six. It took us a little while longer to make it all the way home because we had to walk to the dam and find a ride from there back up to St.Mary’s lake to get Michael’s Explorer.