And we’re off

Our shuttle driver was great, lots of knowledge about the trail. We were joined by Holly a PCT hiker from Juneau. One more passenger made the fee less. Her pack was truly minimal with only a small tarp held up by one hiking pole.

At the trailhead the skies were ominous with dark clouds and the air was cool. We began our ascent. It was a slow climb one mile an hour. We stopped for lunch which was our only break. The trail turned and we were in driving punishing wind. We were blasted from the side and slowed to slower crawl with the headwinds. Summiting Miller’s Peak at over 9,000 feet, we then descended two miles to Bathwater Spring. Holly and Mike were there. They decided to spend the night. Terry got water from the bathtub. The winds were picking up. We had only gone six miles, so we decided to get more miles.

We didn’t get far. As we were heading out of camp, the wind turned fierce and it began to sleet. We wrestled our tent up on a space just above the two other tents. Everything was whipping around. By 4:30 we were hunkered down, the wind whistling and screaming all night. Pine trees became encased in ice and the shards from their branches pelted us all night.