50-Miler Day 4

Day 4 started out with a cup of oatmeal sweetened with freshly picked huckleberries.The hike began with 2,000 feet of elevation gain to reach McAlester Pass (6,000 feet). I was dreading it, but it turned out to be a lovely wildflower hike. First is Aconitum columbianum (columbian monkshood).
Flowers in the sunflower family typically have disk flowers in the middle and ray flowers around the disk. But some do not have any disk flowers, like dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), and some do not have any ray flowers, like Arnica parryi (Parry's arnica).
I also found a late blooming Viola glabella (pioneer violet).
Mimulus lewisii (purple monkey-flower) is named after Meriwether Lewis, famous for leading the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lewis was an ardent biologist who documented the plants, birds, and animals they found with detailed drawings and descriptions.
And I always like to find a patch of Gentiana calycosa (mountain bog gentian). This one came with a bee.
We took a break after 1,000 feet of elevation gain. After the break, our slowest hiker was inadvertently in the lead. He worked hard to keep a steady pace, and we climbed the second 1,000 feet in 50 minutes (that is fast with a full pack). The top of McAlester Pass was scenic.
From the pass, the trail dropped precipitously, and soon the rocky cliffs were above us. The red flower is Aquilegia formosa (western columbine), and the white flower is Valeriana sitchensis (Sitka valerian).
We were planning to stop after 10 miles, but the campsite was in direct sunlight on a hot afternoon. So we decided to hike another mile to the next campsite. As seen in the upper left corner of this photo, it turned out to be too small to hold our party, so again we hiked on. The rickety suspension bridge was very wobbly, but it worked.
Late in the day, we found a nice view of Lake Chelan in the distance.
Day 4 turned out to be another long day: 13.0 miles with 2,500 feet gain and 4,000 feet loss. Unbelievably, we has just hiked 50 miles in four days with full packs.