On Saturday a group of five plus one pup met at the trail head for a 6am start up Allen. There were already a few signed in with the same destination. The morning was misty which made the walks around Lake Jimmy, Sally and the wetlands very enjoyable in the morning sun. The walk in is a nice warm up and was especially enjoyable as we approached the Marcy trail junction as it was in full bloom with raspberries and blueberries everywhere! <br><br>Our crossing of the Opalescent was a fairly easy rock hop (and a nice refreshing, cool wade for tired feet on the way out ). The trail was easy to follow and maintained a nice relaxing grade until we reached the base of Allen. We were lucky that the slides were relatively dry and the red slime we had heard so much about was not difficult to avoid. One member took a spill on the first slide but was in good shape after that. The climb up gets steep in places as well as rocky and rooty with some blow down to navigate which forces a nice steady pace that keeps you moving without wearing you out.<br><br>Once at the summit we saw our first hikers of the day and enjoyed talking about our journey up the mountain. We explored the summit and were surprised how many great side trails we found to multiple viewpoints, all of which offered a new perspective of the peaks. We enjoyed our lunch, the views and met a few more hikers as they reached the summit. Then, after about 45 minutes we started the hike down and we were surprised how many people we met along the way - a very busy day on Allen. <br><br>We were back at the trailhead by 5pm and ran into a fellow hiker/runner who had started Allen 10 minutes before us, ran down it as we were about 3/4 of the way up and then arrived at parking 10 minutes after us because he RAN up Marshall after completing Allen! My feet hurt just thinking about it!<br><br>Our group consisted of many Aspiring 46r's from one who made Allen #45 and one who chose Allen for her #4! A great day on the trails with a fun group!