Storm Mountain

We made it to Storm Mountain as we do every year in the springtime. Maybe not every year, we've done it 3 times - 2020, 2022, and now 2023 (we couldn't go in 2021 due to the damage from the fire). This hike is such a good hike because it's so accessible. It's less than an hour from our house, has gorgeous views of the tall peaks to the West, and isn't incredibly popular. I'm not sure why this trail isn't more popular, but I won't complain since it's one of my favorites for all the reasons previously mentioned. The hike itself was nicer before the fire, but the fire cleared out a lot of trees making the visibility at the summit wide open.

This is the first time that we've hiked this that it wasn't stormy. There were storms to the West, but with no threat to us, we could take our time. Of course, since we had time we didn't need it - we made it up to the top in what I would consider record time. Our normal pace is about 1.5 miles per hour on the ascent, but we were cruising around 2 miles an hour. I think we were able to hike this faster because Storm Mountain is at a lower elevation than the hikes we've been doing recently.

The summit was incredibly windy. We both had our windbreakers, which was good, but windbreakers weren't enough at the very top. We found a sheltered place to sit and eat an early lunch that still had fantastic views, although they were looking East and not toward the tall Western Mountains. But it was still a great enough view for us to stay at the summit for almost a half-hour until we headed back to the car. On the descent, we realize that it wasn't just windy at the summit, but instead, the wind had picked up everywhere. We made it back to the car without freezing too much, but that made us were glad we started the hike on the earlier side rather than leisurely getting to the trailhead this morning.