Sparrowhawk Tarns

Indian Summer is a chance to go for one last summer outing.
Daytime temperatures have been hovering in the low teens, so we decided to try for one last hike before the forecasted snow on Sunday.

Our goal was Mount Sparrowhawk, and we even found the "shortcut" trail just north of the normal trail. Unfortunately, we missed the intersection leading to the col between Mount Sparrowhawk and Read's Tower and ended up heading towards Sparrowhawk Tarns.

Looking back towards Spray Lakes

There was a fair bit of ice on the trail, which made some sections quite treacherous, although being mostly in the woods there was no risk of exposure.

Coming up to the high point of the Sparrowhawk Tarns trail

Once we got around Read's Tower, the view up to the southwest face of Mount Sparrowhawk revealed a lot more snow than expected. Even if we had found the correct trail, there would not have been a summit on this day.

We continued along the Sparrowhawk Tarns trail until it became obvious that we would see no tarns due to snow. At the high point, we stopped to have lunch and soak in the view.

Heading back down

It's been a good summer, but now it is over and the snow is falling as I write this.

Note that I'm on a crappy loaner phone with old technology GPS, which missed the first 15 minutes or so of the hike.
http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/262602890/3101909