June 12, 2016

We awoke with a beautiful view of the sunrise. It was a brisk morning and Rickets and Loopy set off before me while I took some extra time for stretching. It was a mix of shale ridge walks and snowy forest crossings for the first few hours. While looking for a stream I got a little turned around and ended up walking back the wrong way for a few minutes before realizing it.

The rest of the morning was quiet with each of us spaced out or thinking our own thoughts. There was no water until the lake that hit around 1:00pm. It was beautiful and the plan had been to take a dip when we arrived. Unfortunately there was chill breeze blowing down off the surrounding snow-covered mountains and we all had put jackets on shortly after stopping. The swimming would have to wait a while yet.

We spent more than hour enjoying the sun and the view before heading out. Loopy had lost a game of Odds and had to dunk her head before heading out - it looked just as cold as I had imagined it might be.

The afternoon held more beautiful views and only one sketchy snow slope. After circling it for the last two weeks, we were beginning to swing closer past Mt Shasta and it was even more impressive up close rising 6000-7000 feet above the surrounding peaks.

The last 5 miles of the day were a tough push to camp but we made it in not too much later than our usual camp time. It was quite buggy despite being in the middle of a dry section and we set up, ate, and headed to bed quickly.