It was my birthday today and although I don’t usually go out on Sundays my family was out of town and I was all by myself. So, I gave myself a peak for my bday. My plan was to tag Cascade Mountain. But dang, the climb up from Big Springs to the Cascade Saddle just killed me. I was so hot, so low on energy. When I got to the saddle and looked at how far away the peak was, I knew I didn’t have it in me. Bummer. After resting for a few minutes at the saddle I looked south and thought that Freedom or Shingle Mill Peaks looked doable. I headed off, missed the trail turn off and ended up following some terraces and then shwhacking up to the saddle between the two peaks. The ridge going up Freedom looked too sketchy for a solo outting. Class 3 climbing. So, I worked my way up to Shingle Mill, finding some cairns to follow along the way. A fun little peak. On the way down I took the north ridge – much better route than what I took up. I bombed down to Big Springs a bit too fast, beat my quads up good.