We slept until 7:30a, because it was raining. Pouring actually, all night long. I imagined our food to be soaking and mixing and bubbling under our tarp in the rain. Cold. But at 7:30a, everything was fine; just wet. We packed our wet things, and climbed up to Bishop Pass.
Sure is a big one. Steep, rocky and notably challenging.
Taking a more thoughtful and relaxed step has been so luxurious, and lifted the stress of schedule a bit off my head, although we still need to keep up a decent pace. This choice of strategy was a wise one. And returning to our trail was something we all looked forward to doing. Passing a number of hikers on the way, we agreed that the people we met on side trails are different than those on the PCT or JMT. Less glowy. I wonder which kind of hiker we are...maybe we make up a separate category, altogether.
The guys did a fine job of cutting up this biotch of a pass. We stopped shy of the top, to find a site. We are plopped down next to a green, sparkly lake, and under snowy mountains.
This is the boys' Cliff bar advertisement