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Onward and upward we went after the little photo shoot and continued on until we reached the top. We all immediately put on our extra layers. Being quite warm on the way up, it was a bit chilly on the breezy top of Mount Townsend and I was glad I brought my down jacket.
As the others rested and enjoyed the views, I ate a quick snack and was off to see what else I could capture with my new (did I mention bulky and heavy?) camera.
After about 45 minutes of lounging in the sun, we all decided it was a bit too chilly to really enjoy and we packed up and headed out. A little ways down the summit ridge, we again stopped, this time to shed some layers and for me to waste some more space on my camera's memory card.
We all noticed how much warmer it was out of the wind and someone wondered whether we should have had our little rest down here where it wasn't so breezy. On the way down, the snow had become kind of sloppy in a few spots as it had been melting in the sun. It was quite warm out as well and felt great. Not too often you have 60 degree days in the mountains in March. Spring definitely feels like it is 3 or 4 weeks early this year. Hiking down, we were soon back to Jim's car. We all were satisfied with the exercise we got and were happy we carried our snowshoes to the top and back.
