1980: The Boundary Trail, page 14

Day seven, Sunday
11:35 AM.  Hidden Lakes Shelter
I awoke to find it was no longer raining. Right now the clouds seem to be lifting a little and the sun is doing its best to burn through. However it has an awfully long way to go.

Hey, I just looked up to see shadows! So I ran out of the shelter to check it out and yes indeed, it looks as though the sun may come through yet!

I celebrated the rain stoppage by eating my extra dinner for lunch – lasagna – and making some lemonade. Odd combination you say? Well it was a banquet to me.  (Micki says ‘thank you very much for my portion!’)

If this is not just a tease and it really does start to clear, we can be out of here tomorrow and off for the Crest.

3:40 PM. Damn! It's starting to cloud over again.  But it doesn't matter: Micki and I have made a deal – if it is dry tomorrow, we go. But if it's raining, we stay. 

We had an enjoyable afternoon spent reading and sleeping.  (I did the reading, Micki did the sleeping.)  Tonight makes the eighth night out and I find myself thinking how nice it would be to end this hike with sunshine. Sorry, the weather totally dominates my thoughts right now and I am really, REALLY hoping these latest clouds are not the edge of another big system.

6:50PM. It is much warmer then it has been the last two nights and that's very encouraging. And since I'm waxing all warm and positive in my thoughts, I have to admit that here have been some positives that have come out of all these layover days. For example, my blisters have gotten much better.  I bled out all the creamy-colored puss and patched them up with Band-Aids. I figure they're good enough to get me to Hart's Pass; then I'll worry about it from there.

The rest is been good for Micki, too.  It seems as though she has spent as much time in my sleeping bag lately as I have.

But we are both bored to tears and ready to move on. I finished one book that I brought and am about halfway through the second. You will no doubt note a corresponding relationship between the books and this journal.  The less reading I do, the more writing I do. Call it ‘Journal Babble.’

I estimate that we are roughly 35-miles from Hart's past via the West Fork Pasaytan River trail.  I really wish I'd brought that section of map with me.  Although I know where I'm going, I’ve never been on that particular trail and I really don't know how far it is up to the pass.

Man, if is raining tomorrow I am really going to be pissed at having to stay another day! I mean, if it does rain, this is the best place to be. But what I really want is to spend that extra day at someplace like Grasshopper Pass in the sunshine.

Ideally, I'd like to leave here tomorrow by 8AM. That gets us to the river by 10AM, to frosty Creek by about noon, then to the West Fork River Trail by no later than 1PM. At that pace (2.5 to 3mph) we can be at the Holman Creek trail by 4PM, for sure no later than 5PM. If the weather is warm and dry, we could head up to the Crest. If it is not, we can just stay down in the valley and head for Hart's Pass the next day.

I know, I'm being redundant again. But it's only because I'm soooo bored and weather is the big issue here! Sorry.

Tomorrow starts off another work week for all good little UPSers.  I am pleased to not be amongst them. I would much rather be up here in the nasty weather than sorting packages in the back of my truck.

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