Monday was a great day for hiking with the weather favoring the 20 hikers that turned out. The rain that had been predicted for 11 AM did not show up during the hike.

There's a big road project in Upper Lithia Park, as a new culvert is being put in as part of the new water treatment plant, which will be built off the Wonder Trail. So you can't use the normal TH. And a footbridge has been built across Ashland Creek to access the Trail.

We found a good rest stop with a new bench, and when you're sitting on it, you're looking straight up at Mt Ashland.

After rest and water and waiting to collect the group, we continued up to the intersection of the old and new trail. Randy got our group shot there around the trail sign.

Then it was the final push up the last 1.5 miles to Fell-on-Knee.
Where we rested and had snacks. On this day, we planned to head down to Skout's for refreshments and celebrate my 75th birthday.

When we got to Skout's, I soon learned it wasn't just a casual meeting of friends for refreshments, but a cleverly planned surprise party by Liz and Kathy. Other friends arrived and it was the best birthday celebration I've had since I moved to Ashland some 19 years ago.