Yesterday I hiked with a group that climbed high out of the West Chicago Creek valley in the Hells Hole area of the Mount Evans Wilderness Area. From the Hells Hole trailhead we bushwhacked, climbing through the forest, to the top of Independence Mountain above 11,000 feet. We then hiked along the ridge, making our way through the rugged terrain and high-altitude forest, skirting snow drifts, for approximately two miles to a saddle below Sugarloaf Mountain. We then climbed steeply, ascending above tree line, to the 12,513 foot summit of the mountain. From the mountain and the ridge below, we had sweeping views of the mountains in the wilderness area and beyond. The twisted, ancient evergreens of the Krumholz forest on the ridge were quite interesting. At times clouds threatened and there was haze from the fires in Arizona, but storms never came. We took a long bushwhack back to the trailhead through the woods and the wet conditions from melting snow.