Awesome 24 hours in the back country of Boulder County! Rach picked up a permit late Thursday. We left town Friday at 4:30 and started hiking in from the 4th of July trail head by 5:30 or so. Got to campsite #10 by 7:30, in time to make a nice dinner with the setting sun.
Packed up by 9 on Sat AM, stashed the packs and headed up the drainage for an off-trail adventure with the girls. Troopers! We climbed up steep steep scree and grass slopes to gain the ridge over to Upper Storm Lake, which was encased in ice and snow still, and then down the Jasper Lake drainage only to climb back up the ridge from the other side but further east. Serious elevation gain and loss. But with blue skies and warm temps, not a better time to be up above treeline. Heaven.