After a good lunch break (and a quick trip back down a ways to rescue a watter bottle Pu had dropped), it was time to move on. The bright sun was starting to fade; a more solid deck of clouds had reached us, and the warm springlike demeanor was giving way to a dull cool grayness again. Hopefully we'd still get to the summit of Eisenhower while there were views.
Gloomy march to Eisenhower's summit
We quickly made our way up the moonlike expanse of tundra that covered Eisenhower's broad summit dome. The gray overcast continued to gather, but fortunately it stayed high enough that it did not obstruct our views. We arrived at the elaborately-constructed summit cairn shortly after 2pm.
Washington has disappeared
Graham and Pu near summit
Eisenhower's summit commands great views towards the highest peaks of the Presidential Range. And all of them were pretty much still visible, with the exception of the very tips of the highest peaks. Now, normally I'm not a fan of monotone gray overcasts. But in a way, because of the beautiful weather of just a few minutes before, the now-gloomy view was interesting: the variety of conditions we were encountering on our hike today added contrast and variety to the experience.
