Round Top Lake: Epic.

Epic. Amaze-balls. Fandiddlitastic. All of the adjectives apply to our most recent hike to Round Top Lake. You'll get a better sense of why from the pictures and captions in the slideshow below. Lola suggested that we make this our annual Back-to-School hike, so why not.

It was a perfect day for a hike, too. The weather was mild, at first. Much of the trail (a good portion of which is along the equally-epic Pacific Crest Trail) is exposed so the cooler temperatures and cloud cover added to the perfectness. And the thunderstorm, which we were warned was coming, which turned into a hail storm as we returned the last mile, made it a hike I don't think we'll ever forget.Take a look at the pictures (click on the first one to get a slideshow view) and watch the three-minute movie with highlights from the last mile (embedded below the picture gallery; be sure to have some volume).

Mixed conifer, granite-strewn, chipmunk-chasing goodness right from the get-go.

Pixie Ninja Jr. is all smiles at the start.

Our destination in the distance. (Not really, at least this trip. One of these years, we’ll make it to the top though.)

It was mostly a gradual up on the way out.

The forest gave way to massive meadows.

Technically, wildflower season lasts until mid-August, but there is still so much snow melt and water that they were in full bloom.

Snow. Still. ~8500′.

Lake Winnemucca was the second of three alpine lakes along the trail.

Snow-filled creek bed, with a snow-melt creek running underneath.

Looking back on Winnemucca. The kids stopped here because the trail got hecka steep for the last mile up to Round Top Lake.

I continued on to get a glimpse of Round Top Lake but stopped short so we can make it as a family all the way, next year.

Heading back on the trail with storm clouds looming in the background, heading our way. We almost outran them…