It was pretty cold last night as it got down to 38 degrees. I never thought it would be colder hiking in May than it was last year hiking in February/start of March with Julia. I changed to just a 30 degree sleeping bag to reduce the weight I carry and now I regret that decision. Live and learn. I hiked 12.7 miles which if you look at the title of today, you think I have bad math. However, we did extra mileage going to a shelter for lunch. It was worth it to take off our packs, sit, refuel with food and use a pipe fed spring for more water. The weather today had a little rain and a little hail, but overall not bad. The high never got above 50. There were LOTS of rocks today. I am grateful that I am wearing both ankle and knee supports because the rocks really are tough to traverse. We also crossed a beaver dam bog today. I did put one foot down into the water as I misjudged one step. I had help getting onto one log as I just couldn’t step up with my pack on. Thank goodness for friends!
First water resupply of the day.
A lot of the trail today followed water “paths” created from all the recent rain.
Rhododendrons were aplenty along the trail. Too bad they were not in bloom yet.
The piped spring at the shelter. For my lunch I made coffee!!! My first coffee on the trail. We also refilled our water supplies.
The start of the beaver dam. That board was the only man made help getting across the bog.
You could see the remnants of a forest fire along several miles of the trail today.
Tonight’s camp above, and me crossing the beaver dam bog is the picture below.