Day 2 - RAIN

When I left civilization a few days back I checked the weather forecast and it looked like today, and for the next week, all I saw was sun, sun and more sun. Well you can imagine my surprise when I woke up at 3 am to hear raindrops on my tent. Well humph. Who ordered up rain? No matter, rain is what we got so I broke camp and got underway at 7:30. Diane later told me it was 40 degrees...burrr.

 I donned my rain gear and off I went up to the ridge, climbing from 2,294 to 3,600 in three miles. Not too bad as there were many long switchbacks. What made it nice was the cold weather since this climb is usually a bear. It gets full southern exposure and at the end of a day it can be tough. Once on top the views, even with the clouds, were stunning.  

The rest of the day was a combination of climb up and down with food breaks in between. The rain stopped by 10 am but the clouds didn't ever fully go way till this evening. Welcome on up hills, not as welcome on breaks. Either way we managed 16 miles by 5 pm and have hunkered down in a nice place called Yellow Rose Spring. Wide open with tall grasses, still green, and a real deal, natural water source. I treated it of course but still, the sound of running water is a welcome sound.  

Here's my little tent and the gals with theirs. 

Tomorrow, Laguna Mountain Lodge!