Tamanos Mountain

General: Weather MUCH better than forecast, resulting in a relaxed trip with lots of photo breaks. Some low clouds early but breeze kept them at bay and views were stupendous. We could see not only the Sarvant Glacier and Chimneys, but also Goat Island, Burroughs, Mt Fremont, all across the sunrise road, and we could see Double Peak and Shriner Peak lookout and beyond. Late in day heavy cloud front could be seen hovering over Panhandle Gap area as lenticular cloud was growing over the Mountain.
The only other people in the entire area were an informal group of 3, 2 of whom were Mountaineers that I knew, which was a pleasant encounter.

Timing: 7 1/2 hours

Route Condition: Trail up to lakes is of course completely maintained, soft read, gentle grade. Note that it is easy to get water at Tamanos Creek on the return if needed. Boot path up the slope to Tamanos has badly eroded out over the 7 years that I have done this trip. We Mountaineers (and others) need to remember to spread out when trails do not already exist and when terrain allows it. The first time I did this route there was not a trail up the slope and we walked abreast thru the meadow. Now it is 18" deep in some places. (Maybe the Park Service will eventually put in supports as they have done above Hidden Lake. )Boot paths along the ridge abound; you can stay low and left of the ridge if you choose or have more fun and scramble up and down the blocky sections, more or less over the top of the ridge, which we did, partly for fun, partly because the rock is more solid in some cases. Doing so might make this slightly more than a T-2 since a few moves required both hands but nothing difficult.
There is only a tiny snow patch left above the saddle. All else is clear.

Equipment: Even though this is an easy scramble, I opted to require helmets because there is a lot of loose rock and with a party of 10, there is opportunity for someone to be above someone else.

Flora: lots of Columbine, valerian, lupine, magenta paintbrush and others in meadows approaching the lakes. Pasqueflower there has already set seed. Large swaths of an orange paintbrush on the slope; others not yet in bloom.

Fauna: much sign of elk but no observations. Do mosquitos count as fauna? plenty of them as you near the lakes. take your breaks elsewhere.

Note: I do not think this is 11 miles but did not measure it. The "100 peaks" e-book lists as 8.5mi. maybe the next party can GPS it and see what they come up with.