Yesterday, I hiked the Strawberry route with friends. It was wonderful to say hi to our tram family, who warmly welcomed us back. The last two times I took the tram up and down was to snowshoe to the peak earlier this year. I also did several Skylines to the tram with friends before and after the closure. I don't even recall the last time I hiked the Strawberry loop
It was probably before the multiple Covid shutdowns. It was warm and humid when we started (about 8:30). However, we had cloud cover. The trail to Round Valley was in great shape -- thank you trail crew
The one mile, 900-foot vertical gain from Round Valley to Wellman's divide handed me my ass as expected 
The view from the divide was exquisite. About halfway down to the Strawberry junction, we saw a doe 
Wellman's Cienega was flowing well and treated us to wildflowers and ferns (a friend refers to this a "middle earth"). Once on Strawberry, the views were even more spectacular and enhanced by clouds. When we reached the Deer Spring junction, we began the long, rolling section through pines and ferns to the Fuller ridge (PCT) junction. I refer to the section from the Fuller ridge junction to Little Round Valley as Three Bears (too many years of hiking the Strawberry loop solo
). Water was flowing well at Bed Springs crossing. Took a short break at LRV, then headed up the never-ending switchbacks to the junction (it feels like more than 1.3 miles ). Hiked and scrambled up the rocks to the summit. Due to the weather, there were fewer people than normal for a Saturday. Quick lunch break, then headed down the winter route to Miller saddle. Took the trail to a bit below 10 K and headed down ranger overland to Tamarack. Hiked out Sid Davis (very overgrown) to rejoin the main trail. As it was a weekend and we didn't get to the tram until about 5:30, it took a while to take the tram down. Miles of smiles,
Ellen
