Mummy Mtn and Juniper Peak

Those are two peaks you don't often see in the same sentence. There is a reason I choose those two peaks for the title of this blog. This past weekend I on stood on both. Normally, not something to write about, but doing Juniper Peak in the middle of July could be considered crazy. First, let's talk about the Mummy Mountain hike, then we will determine if I am crazy!

On Saturday, eight hikers followed the Mummy Springs route to Mummy Mountain. Years ago we built a crude path above the springs to the overlook. Wow! What a difference a few years makes. The crude path is now almost a trail. It's still steep and loose in spots, but very easy to follow. From the overlook the route parallels the base of Mummy Mountain to the gully in the photo. This is a fun mountaineering route. No sowing machine leg on this route. The weather cooperated and we got back to the cars without a drop of rain.

Sunday was an interesting day in more ways than one. After a few mistakes I stood at Red Rock parking lot at 11 am. Not the best starting time for a Red Rock hike in the middle of July. But this was not an ordinary July day. The sky was dark and as I walked down Pine Creek trail there was thunder in the air. I had a plan: find a shortcut to Shark Boulder and sign the book at Juniper Peak on a July day or get some wild waterfall photos from the upcoming storm. Not a bad plan. Well, I encountered wind, dark clouds, cool temps, hot temps, and a little rain. I found a significant shortcut to Shark Boulder that eliminates the messy traverse and shortens the hike by a good 15 minutes!

By the time I stood on Juniper Peak the storm had past and it was warm again. I made my way down the normal route and out on the trail. I ran out of water near the intersection with Pine Creek trail, so I was not hurting too bad. I do very well in the heat, but I did feel the heat later that night. ( I fell asleep around 9:30.) It's not recommended hiking Red Rock in the summer. Normally I would have gotten an earlier start and carried more water, but these are not normal times! The verdict: Not crazy...
Doing pretty good for the shape I am in -- BC