Left town with overcast skies and arrived to the sun. The lower lot was full so I opted for the Hadley trailhead. There were people but it seemed as if if was not overwhelmingly crowded. As always the route to Hamilton Mountain was beautiful and flower are in bloom. Once I came off Hamilton Mountain decided to go long toward the upper Hardy creek trail. Then made the decision to hit Hardy ridge. Crazy that Hardy ridge is so much higher than Hamilton Mountain. The views from Hardy are better as well. In addition to Hood and Adams I was able to Rainer. Plus Hardy ridge is much much less crowded.