August 23

Last night we thought we had dodged a bullet with the rain… and we did. Unfortunately later in the night it came back with an assault rifle’s energy. The pyrotechnic lightening show was impressive, and the volume of rain was significant. It was a great way to check out our gear before our official start, but far from fun. The storm eventually ends and we crawl out to assess

the damage. We fire up the MSR stove and have coffee, muffins and bananas. Unbeknownst to me my sister had sent along spiced oyster crackers and rice crispy chocolate covered cookies to eat in the car. I am not exactly sure why, but they were never offered up. It was likely because we already had so many snacks. It does not take us long to realize we have way too much food and trash and nowhere to get rid of it. It can’t stay in the car because of bears. We pack up our camping gear wet, with hopes of drying it later on the trail.

At the trailhead we sort and pack again,and enjoy the pit toilet. We fail to find anyone willing to take our trash, though the pit toilet is very tempting. The trash gets stuffed in an Ursack and comes along for the trip. The trails are well groomed and pleasant, but the stories from people leaving the wilderness are a bit frightening. Some say last night was their scariest experience in the wilderness. A few claim to feel actual tingling before the lightning strikes. Several groups are changing course and heading out days earlier than planned. We just smile as best we can and press on in. We are more interested in fishing reports than thunderstorm horror stories.

Photographer’s Point is way more spectacular than I imagined. We enjoy lunch, spectacular views, and most importantly hold a massive yard sale to dry our gear.

We press on to our planned Hobbs Lake. We hope to arrive in time to set up camp and enjoy some fishing. Tents go up and we head to the shore to fish and filter water. We do both briefly but the heavens divide to demonstrate what those leaving have been talking about. It goes quickly from just a downpour to slushy hail, with a fair dose of thunder and lightning. We drive, soaked, slushy and shivering, into our tents. We are not carrying extra changes of clothes and with the storm still storming we are not sure what to do. At a break I hop out to try to make our hot Indian curry dishes, hoping to warm our bodies and souls. I get chased back to my tent with another sudden downpour. Eventually we give up on cooking and hunker in for a long night.