Day 56 - Mile 770.4 to 786.13 - Mel

June 9

Didn't get as early if a start as we wanted because it was just too darned cold out. 

We started the day with a creek crossing. Not deep, but wide. We made it though without falling in. 

I had been worrying about the climb today, but it started out gently and the scenery was breathtaking. Barren hillsides with craggy mountains in the distance. Crystal clear lakes In the tundra. Marmots just off the trail. It took us a long time to get to the real climb because we had to keep stopping to enjoy it all. 

The last mile and 1000 feet was straight up the granite face. I'm sure the views were great, but my eyes never left the trail. Plus I was just huffing and puffing. There was a snow bank at the top and fortunately there were some hikers that pulled us over. 

Our next challenge was the snow on the north side. Just enough to cover the trail, so we weren't quite sure where it was. I made Liz go first and we crossed the snow where others had packed it down and climbed over a lot of rocks knowing that we weren't on the trail. It was frightening since I don't have experience hiking in snow. 

We finally found the trail and enjoyed the craggy mountain peaks and lakes. Lots of melting snow, so we had many stream crossings and water running down the trail. 

Planned on a campfire this evening, but it started raining. Dinner in the tents again.