Another good day in the foothills as we enjoyed clear skies most of the day. The start of the trail descending to the creek was very muddy in a few wet spots, having been churned up by either horse or the local inhabitants:


Wildlife near Gorge Creek

After crossing the creek, the walk through the meadows was a serenade of bellowing cows which were in abundance in this lower section of the trail. Further up when we went off-trail we came across the first of the day’s three squirrel middens:


Squirrel midden & fresh cones

After finding and losing numerous game trails we found a well worn horse trail that got us most of the way to Surveyors Ridge. A brisk wind was blowing but the protected east side of the ridge was a warm and pleasant spot for lunch:


Lunch out of the wind on Surveyors Ridge

While there we were unexpectedly joined by two more participants who had taken a circuitous (and delaying) drive to the trailhead, but managed to navigate successfully join us in time for lunch. After a leisurely lunch we headed south down the ridge:


Descending Surveyors Ridge, Bluerock in distance

There seemed to be more of a defined trail than in previous years, likely from horse traffic. We then headed up towards Mount Ware:


Bill finishes lunch near Mount Ware

Some chose to ascend up the rough trail on the north side (TL4) while others took the more direct scramble route. The views were great but the wind was rather brisk:


On top of windy Mount Ware

This led to a relatively short stay before we headed off the east end:


Descending Mount Ware

A jaunt along the ridge to the east outlier followed by the descent to the Gorge Creek trail brought us back to the cars by 5pm.Good conversations and a good hike were had by Jane, Douglas, Rosanne, Philip, Teresa (photos), Francisco, Barbara, Aldis & Bill. Ron, C/S/P.