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Thunderstorm for dinner
Day 115
Date: 24.08.2022
CDT Mile: Mile 2'306.7
Miles hiked: 24.4 miles / 39.05 km
Elevations: 3'054 feet ascent (931.5 m Aufstieg) / 4'944 feet descent (Abstieg 1'508 m)
Camping at: 7'207 feet / 2'198 m
Our day started with a moderate but beautiful climb, accompanied by the sunrise. The views were amazing, over a valley full of green trees. And the trail was beautiful. As I descend down the valley, to a lake and back up a small pass, I am a little nervous. I know that my group is behind, about 10 to 20 minutes I guess. I can hear a lot of noise from squirrels and other small animals. And this forest looks like a nice place for grizzly's. I keep on playing with my poles to make some noise and warn animals of me. But I don't see any bears, only some deer's looking at me curios, what this funny noise is. Reaching the pass, a steep and stoney downhill follows, till I reach a nice forest again. 6.5 miles in and a little more than 2 hrs later, I stop for our breakfast break. It's a beautiful place in the forest with a nice stream and a wooden path. I filter water, eat my snack and wash my socks, but they are not here yet. Half an hour later they turn up. I didn't expect them to be that far behind. Shortly later also Soccermum turns up. I break for more than an hour here, before we keep on hiking again. Now it's mostly downhill on beautiful trails through forests. It's really nice. I pass everyone and after a while I here some big cracking noises. I stop and look around. The noise is still there and I can see some bushes and trees moving. I clap my poles and keep on making noise. But I am curios too. A deer or moose would run away and then not move anymore. I have the strong feeling that there are two bears. I don't know if grizzlies or blackbears. I start to feel a little nervous now and walk the trail back, as Soccermum turns up. Together we keep on looking but can't see the animals. They are not that far away from trail, but behind bushes and out of sight. What a pitty, I would have loved to see a bear, now that I am not alone anymore. After a while of trying to spot the animals unsuccessfully, we keep on hiking and we hike super fast. Within less than two hours we hiked the 7.2 miles to the next river, where we stop for lunch. To be fair, it's a very nice trail, no blowdowns and mostly gentle downhills. So really made to go fast. Ah it's nice cruising down the trail that fast. My hips and legs are still hurting, but funnily not as much if I hike fast. Half an hour later also Cheetah and Captain turn up and 15 minutes thereafter Mouse hikes in. I hike out shortly after Soccermum, and pass him a little later, while he is arranging his sleepingbag to his backpack to dry it out. As I walk along a nice stream, I miss a turnoff. I was just thinking to take a swim in that stream, as it is super hot and was looking for a good spot to enter. We have a climb ahead of us, and swimming makes more sense after the climb than before. I am being snapped out of my thoughts as I hear Soccermum screaming my name. He must have thought or seen that I have gone wrong, not far though, and called me to tell me where the trail is. We run up the uphill. I am dripping sweat. But it is fun and with no time we'd reached the top. I only carried a little water and now, with the climb and the sun being out and brutal, I get super thirsty and drink what I have left in the bottle. Also Soccermum is out of water. It's about 3 miles to the next river and, both of us seeking water, we nearly run down. Luckily, on the other side of that hill, the sun is covered behind clouds. As soon as we are out of the sun, it is nice and not that hot anymore. That helps with our thirst. But it also worries a little. These clouds look like stormy clouds. And once we reached the river, it is too cold for me, without the sun, to take dip. Thanks, I was really looking forward to a little swim! Again we wait more than 30 minutes for the group to show up. Captain and also Mouse acknowledge that they both feel very tired today, even so today is a relatively easy day, compared to the last couple of days, very little climbing only. Captains feet and legs are hurting him too. We agree to stop for dinner in another 7.5 miles at a river and then see of we can hike another mile or two or camp there. I hike up the last uphill climb of today and shortly after Soccermum reach the bottom of that valley and the river. We can hear thunder and see dark grey clouds coverng the sun. Fast we filter water and start to cook dinner, as it begins to rain. Oh no... quickly we get in our raingear, which I have a ready prepared at the outside of my pack and pack our food and gear back in my backpack. We should try to find a better spot for dinner, under some trees for coverage. Also, we decide to have a look if there are possible spots for camping. There are, a little down a road. And in the meantime it stopped raining. So I get out my food again and start cooking dinner for the second time. Again we can feel some drops of rain, but I will finish cooking my ramen now here. I was nearly done eating when Cheetah and Captain, and a little later also Mouse, turn up. Finishing my meal, it starts to rain again. This time heavily. But I picked the lucky spot without noticing, and get very good shelter from a tree. I hardly get rained on while everyone seems to get dripping wet. Cheetah had the great idea to hold her sleeping mat over her head😁. Soccermum runs out, to pitch his tent. I just keep sitting and don't move. About 10 minutes later the storm including lightening passed. Now we get up and pitch our tents too. I guess the weather made the decision for us regarding staying here for the night or hiking a couple of mores miles. It's just, that today was a fairly easy day and I wished we could have hiked 3 to 5 more miles. Tomorrow is gonna be a though day again, with loads of climbing. If we wanna reach town in two days, we must hike nearly 26 miles each day. That is a lot, with all the climbing. But it is also supposed to be a very nice day, with respect to views, and I am looking forward to them (not to the climbs thought!). We will see.
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