We awoke this morning to a new morning's mountain chill. My body quaked and the world was once again completely new and foreboding. The sun had already started to lighten the sky outside the tent as we stirred. It was later than when we had been routinely rising before leaving the trail two weeks ago. The 5:25 am alarm will no longer suffice as we are now loathe to leave the cozy warmth of our lofted goose down dens before the frosty sparkle of the stars has dimmed to a subtlety in the morning's grey grim expanse.
We took our time breaking camp, eating breakfast, packing and repacking our packs, figuring the best way to fit in the extra gear and the bear canister. The prospect of a full day before us and the heavily laden unweildy cold-weather ready packs have us both a bit daunted as we start in on mounting this high country. Two weeks seems to have done a job on our muscle tone and respiratory systems, not to mention our heretofore unfailing fortitude in the face of hardship.
Early on we passed a few other hikers. We assumed that they were weekenders or day hikers, but while stopping to admire the reflection of a set of cliffy mountain crags in the crystal surface of Showers Lake we were joined by a southbound through hiker named Mama's Boy. He said he recognized our names from registers and informed us that there is a sizeable pack just behind us, up to a dozen now including Zed and the Gimp, and Wildcat and Nickel and others.
We made good time today. We were both eager to get that feeling of progress back.
We camped at a small pond near a road and had another cold night to contend with.
No comments:
Post a Comment