04/06

When it rains, it pours. Waking up at 5 am to beat the storms was ALMOST a good idea. That was until the downpour started at 5:30… Luckily for us, our sleeping bags made it into our dry storage before we were completely soaked. In the pitch black, our headlamps provided only a small spotlight to guide us up the rocky slopes. The danger was more than clear. For the next two hours we painstakingly made our way up and down a 3800ft mountain. It’s a miracle we made it to morning light without a slip or getting lost. Like I said, ALMOST a good idea.

The weather only got worse as the day went on. Making it to the next shelter around 11am was a small consolation. In a futile attempt, we laid our things out to dry. All this before breakfast… Good thing I’m a morning person.

More hikers/familiar faces began trickling in, looking to escape the storm. Packed into the shelter like sardines, we did our best trying to make light of the situation. Telling stories, playing games, and eating food. Some stating “they couldn’t get any wetter”, decided to keep pushing forward in the rain. Bunch of eejits.

I for one made myself at home in the corner of the dirty three walled shack, claiming our space for the night. While I have tried to avoid sleeping in the shelters, as to limit exposure to sickness and mice, today warranted an exception. Sleeping shoulder to shoulder with smelly strangers is quite the experience, one that I certainly couldn’t have done without my earplugs. It comes as no surprise, to me at least, that these conditions made for wild dreams. None of which managed to produce any winning lottery numbers… but there’s always tomorrow night.