Chris’ dad, Ray, passed away on June 28th at age 88, and, as Ray had been very active in the Boy Scouts for many years when he was younger, we thought it only fitting to hike Mt. Baden-Powell in his memory. Carter and Dani drove up from Pasadena to join us in Wrightwood, and we got to the Vincent Gap trailhead shortly before 9:30am – we right away discovered that Chris’ camera battery was dead, meaning that all of today’s photos would be collected from our respective phones. Chris had suspected he’d be very slow today, and he wasn’t disappointed – this was our first hike at elevation since Yosemite last summer, and Chris was breathing hard after the first couple of hundred yards. To refresh the reader’s memory, the PCT climbs up the northeast shoulder of the peak via 42 switchbacks, gaining about 2,800 vertical feet over four miles from Vincent Gap to the summit at 9,383′. Apart from a handful of short flattish spots, the gradient is consistent, and Chris’ lack of cardio conditioning was obvious as we only covered a mile in the first 45 minutes. Jane had been patiently hanging back waiting for him, but the young newlyweds Carter and Dani were clearly being held back by the slow pace. They decided to forge ahead on their own, and Jane and Chris spent the next 2+ miles working a slow routine of walk 100 yds, rest, walk another 100, rest, etc. The weather was clear and warm in the high 70s, but we did get a cool breeze now and again to keep the temperature pleasant. However, Chris’ legs began to jello out at 8,500′, and Jane could wait no longer – she went ahead on her own, reaching the summit a half hour behind the youngsters and 30 minutes ahead of her slowpoke husband. Once reunited at the top, we signed in at the summit register box, leaving in addition to our usual information a short memorial note and a laminated copy of Ray’s obituary. Another hiker snapped a few pictures of us before we retired to a shady place on the mountain’s south shoulder where we ate our sandwiches, enjoyed the wonderful views, and treated an enormous blister that had raised and burst on the back of Dani’s heel. We bid adieu to the summit about 2pm and began heading down, Jane, Carter, and Dani in a fast-moving group with Chris choosing a more leisurely pace – the descent was uneventful other than Chris having hot spots under all his toes by the time he arrived at the trailhead (two large blisters were his reward for the careful downhill hike, although new boots and 4 non-stop miles were probably the culprit here). The months off had an obvious effect as we were all quite sore by early evening (although well-earned cold drinks at the Wrightwood Brewing Company took away some of the sting once we got back to town), but we were all happy to honor Ray like this – Chris’ postscript in the summit register reads, “Life of Service, Peace at Last”, a phrase which will not only be engraved on Ray’s military headstone but also speaks volumes about the gifts, time, and talents he shared with the community throughout his long life.