WalkingCarrot

Heavy dew on the tent and the ground. And heavy thoughts filled the head through much of a restless night. As I was nodding off last night the realization that we only have three days and two night left to the trip set in. And a feeling that the end was coming on us too fast crept into my sleep. Especially with the nice weather it seems like it is ending too soon. A feeling that we are quite ready to finish is setting in. Without the rain the days are more carefree and that is a feeling we want to hold onto.

A steady, un-relenting climb through a long series of switchbacks up across open slopes with fine views west, all in the shade of the ridge until topping out on a grassy ridge with panoramic views east and west. At the top we rejoiced in the warm glow of the sun and had breakfast

After breakfast we began a ridge walk through larch trees in well-advanced stages of seasonal yellow color. We traversed around a couple of peaks, passing by a small glacial cirque where we had camped in ’94. We also passed a large number of day hikers before arriving at Harts Pass.

At the pass we had lunch, spreading our the tent and sleeping bags still damp from the dew to dry in the sun. It is a wonderful Indian summer day, warm but with a hint of fall in the air, almost no breeze and clear skies, not a trace of a cloud. According to Jerry, the ranger at Harts pass, the forecast is for at least 3 or 4 more days like this. Jerry is getting ready to leave for the season. His last day is tomorrow. And he nicely offered to take our garbage with him. A savings in weight , bulk, and smell that we gladly took advantage of. The beautiful weekend weather brought out a lot of car tourists to the pass, in addition to the day hikers. In perhaps a final act of trail magic one of them offered us fruit fresh from the farmers market, which we gratefully accepted.

After a mile or so of a long steady uphill pull out of the pass we started a long traverse, with more stunning vistas and fall colors, the yellow larch and the red huckleberry’s all turning the hillsides ablaze with color.

With the sun setting we made a final push to get over one more low pass and make 16.5 for the day camping near Foggy pass. It was a push for dad, but he made it, keeping a steady pace, although tired at the end.

As we came up the last ridge, Halftrack caught up to us. Good to see him again. The last time we saw him was as we were leaving Vermillion Valley Resort and he was arriving, some 1,800 miles ago. From emails, noets and news from other hikers we knew he was close and closing in fast. With our lower mileage days we thought he might catch up to us before the border.

A nearly full moon rises above the camp, another cold night. Our pen-ultimate trail camp.

Phil “Nowhere Man” Hough