The TAP Apprentice Hiking Guide exam groups spent Sept 8-10th in the Highwood Mist Creek and Picklejar areas.
The trip started out with 3cm of snow down at the parking elevation of 1765m. At 2300m there was an average of 10cm with drifts to 30cm. The days were very warm in the sun with calm winds even at the high alpine cols. Temps ranged from -5 overnight to as high as 17 degrees during the last day of the trip. Clear skies on Sept 9-10 melted a significant amount of snow but snow is still lingering on the N aspects and wooded shaded areas. The trails are slippery in those areas with compact snow.

The East side of the Picklejar Connector trail was washed out in the 2013 flood and has not been repaired. It is easy to bypass this by hiking to the lower Pickle Jar Lake.

Fresh bear tracks were observed on the col between Mist Mountain and Nameless ridge as well as the Cliff Creek drainage below Mist Ridge. Recent bear signs were also seen near the busy Picklejar trailhead.

Numerous hunters were in the Mist Ridge area (both bow and rifle).

The larches are just starting to change colour.