Ten of us bailed out of the mountains to St. Mary Lodge tonight. It’s
day three. First day was an easy ten miles to a great campsite with
fun people. Second day was 27.5 miles and 2.5 passes for me. Too many!
I got to the top of Red Gap Pass, looked to grab a snack, and realized
that I’d left my food, pot, stove, first aid kit, back in the bear
locker all the way back down at the lake. While the day was long, it
was enjoyable.

Then there was today. Brutal. It started raining around five AM, so we
all woke up and started walking. Way earlier than expected we hit
snow. Up and up over the pass. I hiked with Lost (it’s her birthday!)
and Yas (a japanese guy, english only so so). Crampons, ice axes, rain
gear, full on mountaineering in rain and snow. Towards the top, I got
pretty concerned about avalanche conditions. Crazy, but yeah,
avalanche conditions should be rated at HIGH for today. So that wasn’t
fun. Our group got bigger, some near hypothermic. Jesus. Then, after
all of the pain, in the easy stuff, my knee kinked. It hurts! Hurts to
walk up or down stairs, etc. It’s supposed to rain and snow for the
next few days. In my mind, the safe thing to do is to either wait, or
road walk around the mountains. But the herd is leaving, and i’ll be
with ‘em. Unless my knee needs some time to heal.

We’re having fun. But damn!