Yesterday the wind was bad. This morning things were much worse. Stumbling along the exposed ridges, I was surrounded by an icy mist and rain that was being driven sideways into the right side of my face. I had to hold on to the end of the right shoulder adjustment strap as the high wind was whipping it around and at times it would pop up and slap me across the nose or under my right eye. I didn't want to stop in these frigid conditions. Movement was the only thing keeping me warm and my Marmot Precip jacket the only thing keeping me relatively dry. My lower half was drenched. The yellow leaves of spring's once green flowers were torn off their browning stalks and blown pell mell across the ridge. Miserable. The only relief from such an onslaught was found when the trail entered the cover of the trees, which in my opinion was all too infrequent in this morning's section. The afternoon saw more forest walking for which I was most grateful as the effect of the wind was muted somewhat. The sun started to battle the clouds, but, despite my encouragement, the clouds prevailed. As the evening hours lengthened and the hiking day was coming to a close I climbed up and skirted the shore of Fontanillis Lake, whose waters were a boiling tempest. I managed another mile or so until I reached a camp at Dicks Lake. I was worried that I would be unable to set up the tent in such a windstorm and even if I somehow managed, it would soon be flattened by one of the more powerful gusts. Methodically I staked down each corner and weighted them down with some fairly heavy rocks, which were still bucked by the taut tent cords when they were hit by a blast. Miraculously the tent held and it literally became the calm amidst the storm when I crawled inside. When I awoke in the middle of the night, the wind had abated, but not before driving the clouds away. The night sky was filled with stars. And me, I was toasty warm in my Phantom 15 down sleeping bag.
Middle Velma Lake
30 Miles
No comments:
Post a Comment