The original plan was to do Opal Ridge, but we reduced our ambitions because of the thick smoke and went up King Creek Ridge instead (less elevation gain, so easier on the lungs). Honestly, I was surprised that anyone showed up; three (obviously more sensible) people had dropped out.

The smoke lessened the higher we climbed and continued to improve throughout the hike. Views of the Opals were good and we had lots of distractions along the trail to make up for the missing long-distance vistas. A dusky grouse attempted to woo us with his display, a large variety of birds were singing, and we saw a bunch of sheep. Flowers included crocus and clematis lower down and spring beauty and draba higher up, plus a lone calypso orchid when we were almost back down.

Not surprisingly, we were the only humans on the trail. Many thanks to Carl,Jane, and Donna for taking a chance and joining me on what turned out to be a much nicer day than we expected, from coordinator Ingrid.

Approaching main summit

Pointing out that yes, there is a view... sort of

The smoke continued to lift; the usual lunch spot in background

Compared to the first photo, you can see how much less smoke there is