Alpine Scramble - Hibox Mountain

Weather was cloudy on the drive up and rain as we approached the pass.  Fortunately once we got over the pass it was dry and the hike was nice weather all the way.  The road has quite a bit of wash boarding and pot holes but passable by most types of vehicles.  Trailhead was quite crowded at 8AM, haven't seen that many cars there before.

Clouds on a number of peaks, especially West, reduced some of the views but still a good day with mostly good views of peaks both near and far.  (Alta was not visible.  The top of Rainier was above the clouds.  Stuart had a cloud on it most of the day but the surrounding area was not covered.)

The cooler weather was welcome for late July.   A hotter day could have been brutal but this was a good trip.  No snow on the upper slopes.  I didn't know what to expect so had the group bring axes but we didn't need them.  There was some snow on the north side of the summit ridge but we didn't travel on it.  (Certainly could have been used for arrest practice)

Rock was good and no issues.  The group stayed together fairly well so overall a quite enjoyable trip on a good day. 

There is one spot on the trail as you are ascending the grassy slopes below the summit that has a bee's nest right in the trail.  A few people on the trip got stings but that didn't seem to ruin the day.