Wednesday, February 13 - Hike up Key Summit

     On Wednesday we walked up Key Summit, which was not as hard as some of our mountain treks have been.  But the views were fine, and there was some jumping involved.

As usual, I'm bringing up the rear of the group, struggling to keep up
with the torrid pace

Most of the ascent was through moss-covered rainforest

The top was clear of trees, allowing for a 360 view of
the surrounding mountain ranges

Lunch, followed by jumping ...

... egads, that's some elevation!

Kelly spotted this NZ pigeon on the way back down.  They're about 50%
bigger than the regular kind.

    We drove to a campground for the evening.  After dinner Diana and I took a walk through the red beech forest nearby.

Very distantly related to North American beech trees, the red beech can
get pretty big and gnarly.

The mountain lakes get choppy during the day, with small white caps freckling
the surface.  But late in the afternoon and in the early morning the wind dies
down and the surface becomes nearly mirror-like.