We trudged on up the trail, gaining in elevation and slope as we went. Still, it was much gentler than the "Hill of Death".
We started passing a few benches and "elky" looking areas. Cool dark timber and grassy small parks as we headed ever upwards.
The extra weight at this point was starting to take a toll on Chris. His pace was slowing and he needed to flop down and rest every so often. The younger Dave and Jeff (in their low 40s) started to distance out ahead of Chris and Neil. Here Dave seems to exude his skepticism.
I decided I better stay back with my brother and Neil, and told the other two to go on ahead. They said they would set up camp just over the crest and maybe come back to help after too much time. So they headed off ahead and I encouraged the two as best I could as the final 1/3rd of the hike is the steepest.
Now we were getting along on the steep parts about 15-20 steps before rest periods. I offer some support and encouragement. Things were going slowly and the shadows were growing.
Here, nearing the crest, we could look down at the reservoir where we began, that is if you weren't staring down at your boots trying to regain your breath. The start of the day was at zero feet above sea level and now we were approaching 10,500 or so.
Chris and Neil were approaching exhaustion and there were only a few more steep switch backs before we crested the saddle.
Getting to the top, I could see the bowl we would be hunting. The shadows were growing and I was happy it looked like Chris and company would make it.
I started looking for Jeff and Dave, but spotted a tipi tent and two other fellows setting up a cooking stove. I chatted with them and they were also suffering from the elevation and climb up. They were from Wisconsin and it was their first trip up here as well. They mentioned, "the other two said they would be camping another 2 miles down the trail". Uh oh! Two miles? I knew Chris would not make it that far even downhill after a rest.
Backtracking to the crest I met them and informed them of the other campers and what was discussed. After a rest they continued down into the valley, but I knew Chris was nearing the end. We made it about 1/2 mile more when Chris said he needed to stop as we neared a small rise on the right hand side of the trail. They made it to the crest of the rise and flopped down unpacking their gear.
I knew I wanted to find a better camping spot so I circled around and located a great little spot out of the wind that already had a nice fire ring, stack of wood, and log to sit on. I took a photo of it motivate them to move and it was only about 60 yards and another 200 to a nice lake.
It was the end of a long day, so we decided to not set up the tipi tent and I just threw up a sylnylon tarp over my sleeping bag. Chris had his military goretex bag cover. Tomorrow morning was the season opener and I was looking forward to scouting out a nice Y-shaped drainage across the meadow. I heated up a chicken Ramen and wondered about what adventures we would get into the following day. Sleep came quickly and heavy, and it was eerily quiet up in the mountains. There wasn't even a whisper of wind as I dozed off.
No comments:
Post a Comment