Saturday, 30 July 6.5* miles, 3:00
We got up early and packed and went to the coffee shop for a last coffee and Skype home. We caught the first bus which dropped us of only a mile or less from the Duck Pass trailhead. I think the driver went out of his way a little bit to get us closer. This town is very friendly to hikers. The climb passed more quickly than I expected. As we hiked I watched clouds building. When we crossed the pass they were more and darker and we still had some distance to go before we reached any kind of sheltering trees or terrain. As we made our way past Duck Lake noticed that the snow patches were greatly reduced from only a few days ago. We hurried to the JMT junction and thought about continuing to Purple Lake based on the advice of a local couple who assured us we had at least two hours before the storm. It began to sprinkle as soon as they left so we just camped where we had been on Wednesday night. Good thing! Thunder and lightning began only forty-five minutes later. We would not have made it to camp in time and there is supposed to be a fair bit of open trail between here and there. Now I am holed up in my tent, hiding from the rain and small hail. The lightning isn’t heavy right now and we are reasonably well sheltered in a valley with hundred-meter walls and open woods. Chelsea’s coughing and sniffling sound worse but she says she feels fine.
*Today’s miles were on the Duck Pass Trail
*Today’s miles were on the Duck Pass Trail