It rained most of the night, but I was snug in my quilt. I slept hard, but I felt like I needed more sleep. I think being cold takes more energy out of you.
Bob and I are sluggish getting out of camp. We don’t start hiking until 7:20. The morning is overcast. The forecast is for more thunderstorms. Those things are a real pain because they hit mostly in the late afternoon – just as you are trying to set up camp and eat.
Morning Trail
The clouds add some depth to the skies and some proportion to the landscape.
Raymond, Raymond, Raymond
Raymond got the same deal that Dick did a few miles north. Everything is named after Raymond. Raymond’s Peak, Raymond’s Valley, Raymond’s Creek, Raymond’s Pond, etc.
How did Raymond get his name on all this stuff. Wait, you don’t suppose he bought those rights. Are we witnessing the early stages of the rebranding of America. Mount Pilsbury. Cadillac Creek. Lake L’Oréal. If we can change the name of the Gulf of Mexico with the stroke of a pen, any thing is possible.
Fake Out
Bob and I turn into quick change artists. It rain for 90 seconds, we put our rain jackets on. It stops almost immediately. We take them off. Thirty minutes later it starts raining again. We wait three minutes and put our jackets on. It stops raining within minutes. We keep our jackets on to prevent it from starting. This goes on all day.
Is anybody missing a party balloon? I thought most states had outlawed this kind of thing. These Helium-filled balloons can travel many miles if they get loose or are intentionally released. This one was on the side of the trail. I popped it and put it in my pocket for disposal.
An hour later I see another ballon, this one orange. It rolls by me and then takes off on a gust of wind. This is the last I see of it.
Here are some other shots I like today
It Gets Real
About two hours away from camp, the thunderstorm that has been threatening all day gets real. It starts to hail. The hail is bouncing off me. It stings a bit so I dash under a big tree. Quite a bit is falling.
This stuff is about the size of cat litter. But in ten minutes, it starts to accumulate and form an icy covering on the trail.
It’s kind of amusing really. It’s August. I wait for Bob to catch up so we can talk. Bob is now wearing three layers! Maybe we should duck into the nearest sheltered campsite for the night, because the weather is just two squirrelly. But we are almost out of water. We have to go on.
When we get to our creek, here is what our water looks like.
No bueno. The rain rushing down the mountain is filled with sediment. This water would ruin our filters in an instant.
We trudge up the last climb. The trail is a little sketchy because it is furrowed from rivulets of rain or because clay has slid across the trail. When I look back to find Bob he is moving incredibly slow.
I go back to see what’s wrong. Bob is more irritated than I have ever seen him. Tomorrow I am choosing our campsite, he blurts out.
When we finally reach the campsite, it is sheltered and dry-ish. It is down by a lake with some tree cover. There is clean water running nearby. We set up our tents quickly and disappear into them.
It has been a trying day. Kennedy meadows is still a day and a half away. We are hoping for better weather tomorrow, but the forecast is for more of the same.
August 24
Miles hiked 16.5
Dave, be careful in those storms. As you know they are famous for lightning.
Jim