Click on photo to continue to the next outcropping.
Lost in the Gnome Forest!? This is about an hour east of the fire tower.
There is no trail, but the ridge is easy to follow with little downed timber.
We are on our way to 11,034' (3369 meters) Mount Bryant. In the first part of
our journey we quickly climbed from 8,400' to the tower at 9,923'. We are
going to follow a long skyline to Mount Bryant and then to an 11,088' peak
and thence beyond to Paradise Park! Shown below is a photo from our archives
of Mount Bryant after a fall snowstorm. The saddle with the gnome forest
is at the far left edge of the photo. (The fire tower is off the picture further
to the left and not much higher than the saddle). Mount Bryant often gets
heavy snow in its upper reaches and has fantastic trees near its summit to
prove it. Emblazed on its face are a crescent moon (center) and a roundish
sun or planet to the right.
Our journey will follow the ridge and continue quite some distance to an
11,088' peak hidden in the clouds. For our journey, we had an almost
cloudless day and also the benefit the long June 21 solstice. As an additional
boon, my travel companion is Will O'Donnell, a great grandson of William H.
Bryant for whom the mountain is named! This is our first trip up the mountain and
the day after the birthday of Will's father. Our journey began from Will's doorstep.
He has appreciated the Grand Lake area all of his life and is now a sales agent at
Mountain Lake Properties. William H. Bryant was the first commodore of the
Grand Lake Yacht Club started in 1901.
