wet feet, wet souls

Day 73

Our bags were wet this morning from some condensation (we didn't put the tarp up because it was a nice temperature out) and that was a precursor to the day to be had.

Today we had nearly 12 creek crossings. Only about two or three of them had branches/trees to use for the crossing, so we took our boots on and off many times. Eventually, we got tired of the process and soaked them by crossing without taking them off. Bummer move considering it's been overcast since we got into camp, so no drying of the boots today. Wet boots in the morning!

In addition to the mad amounts of crossing, there was a ton of snow. Yes, more snow. Probably about eight miles of snow in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, the snow covered one of the steepest parts of the trail, and it was pretty sketchy going down. Luckily, we had the GPS up and running, so that helped us stay on track. Even more lucky was us packing out an extra set of batteries. The batteries died on the GPS, and we couldn't recharge it via solar power because of the clouds.

All in all, long, long day. 17-miles with lots of barriers in between. We ended the day at a "sandy beach", but when we got to it, the lake was completely overrun, and the water engulfed the beach, making all the dirt just marsh-like. We found a relatively dry spot next to some bear poop and prints, with bucks and deer running through. Hopefully nothing messes with our food.

Hard day, wet day, and tomorrow we have three 1,000 foot climbs- word on the trail is it's pretty snowy. We have one of the worst crossings on the trail this year up as well, so should make for some more hurdles on this very slow stretch. Today was hard, but by the sound of it, tomorrow will be harder. Hopefully these dark clouds blow over and don't add any rain to the mix.

-- Ian