EASTERN CENTENNIAL MOUNTAINS
I watched the thermometer eventually get to 40 by 9:00 am before I dared to exit the tent. Putting on completely soaked clothes was painful, but it had to be done. I kept plastic bags on my feet so that walking through the snow would be less painful. My tent was surrounded by a lot of snow and it was tough getting packed up.
Not to be too graphic, but I must mention that before I hit trail I had a very pending defecation. I held it in through the cold night, not wanting to face the brutal temperature. I was relieved in many ways, including the fact that it was solid for the first time in 4 days.
The trail was a very slippery climb with lots of mud and ice. I couldn’t go fast but I kept moving the best I could without slipping. After most of the morning consumed with slippery climb and descent, I was relieved to come down to snow free elevations. I had a nice lunch at Aldous Lake and proceeded on.
The weren’t many water sources on the next climb, so I decided to stop at one about 6 miles away. The problem was I followed CDT markers that bypassed this source, meaning the markers were erroneously navigating me. This did turn out to be a shortcut in terms of mileage, but my main concern was only having a splash of water and no known water sources. I kept going with the thought that the storm must have left some melting snow trickles or puddles somewhere. Indeed, I came to a big puddle in the trail, and my new FirstNeed XLE quickly produced liters of great water. HeHo!
Since I finally had a decent camp site, I was able to experiment with ramen, ham, and parmesan. Yum!
It is great to be in a dryer, warmer tent on a nice surface with no snow or rain. I hope to make big miles tomorrow.