Got up at about 05:00, only hit the snooze button once. Made some coffee, fed the dogs and cats, put the dogs out for the day, threw the pack in the Jeep and headed out. I almost decided to climb the West Ridge of Quandary instead, but I had no idea what the trailhead conditions were at Blue Lake. Since Steve had just updated the condition of Stevens Gulch a few days ago, I decided to stick with my plan.

I had no problem making it to the parking lot - there is still a daunting snowfield from an avalanche on Kelso, but it gave me no problem going in or coming out before noon. In addition, there are many branches stuck in the snow for traction if the snow does get a little soft. If you have a high clearance 4x4, you'll have no problem getting through. I was a little surprised at the number of vehicles parked below the snowfield when I drove out, some of which were fully capable of making it through. Well, if you do park before the snowfield you still have .8 miles to the parking lot.

When I arrived at the parking lot there were only three vehicles, all Jeeps. Shortly after I arrived a Dodge Durango pulled in next to me. I put my boots on and hit the trail at 07:20. It was chilly until I reached the sun higher up on the trail, then it became a little too warm and I adjusted down to shorts and t-shirt. This hike was almost an exact repeat of last year's Kelso climb: I started at 07:20 on 6/18/02, and it took 2:30 hours to reach the summit. Last year there was very little snow (if any) and a smoke plume from the Hayman fire could be seen from the summit. This year there was a lot more snow, though the Kelso ridge was mostly bare.

I reached the Torreys/Kelso saddle after about 45-50 minutes of hiking. I didn't see anyone else on the ridge though there were some recent footprints. I saw one climber making his way to the Dead Dog Couloir, but I think he might have turned back as I never saw him again. The ridge was just as I remembered, only there seemed to be more loose rock and dirt. Probably just me. I noticed that the wet traction of my boots was significantly worse than I remembered last year, so it must be time to get them resoled. And only some 400 trail miles and 30 vertical miles on those soles...

A beautiful day for climbing; sunny, clear, warm, hardly any wind. At length I approached the class 4 buttress, but the corner I remember climbing last year was full of snow. This made it a lot easier, I didn't even need my ice axe. After that section I met up with another climber and his two black labs. The dogs were very friendly and came over to visit as I continued the climb. I reached the knife ridge, and made my way across cautiously, as my boots did not give me the confidence I expected. After the knife ridge I had a small snowfield to climb, so I got out my ice axe for the first time. I reached the summit at 10:00, followed by the other climber and his dogs.

There were 3 skiers on the summit, and that was about it. I was expecting more people, this being a weekend and especially since it was such a nice day. I ate part of a Clif Bar then headed down. The dogs visited a couple just below the summit and managed to steal part of a sandwich, which was funny. They reminded me of my dogs, always trying to mooch food off people...

I quickly reached the Grays/Torreys saddle and put on my shell pants and jacket for the glissade down. The snow conditions were pretty good and I made good time down, and didn't even get too wet. When I reached terra firma I removed my snow gear and continued my descent. I soon discovered that most of the climbers were running late, and I was a little surprised to see the number of people starting after 11:00. I reached the trailhead at 11:25, took the top down on the Jeep and drove down the road. There were still only 7 or 8 vehicles in the parking lot, but once I crossed the snowfield the sides of the road were lined with cars.

All right, I think I've had enough warmup climbs this year, I'm ready to hit some new 14ers...