September 2nd.
Spoiler header, eh?
Because I was an idiot on route selection, I was about one day behind on my schedule. A friend from my gym in the Twin Cities was flying out to meet me in Silverthorne and hike part of the trail. As a result, I had to cruise. Also, I had to take an alternate into Silverthorne.
I crossed the highway and climbed up to the ridge on the other side. Once I got up high and the sun started to rise, I could see the atmosphere was unsettled. It really did not take long to go from drizzle to wind-swept cloud. Fortunately, the tread was clear on the ridge line. Trying to make lemonade out of lemons, I was thankful that at least I was getting the daily rain done in the morning.
The trail dropped off the ridge and it was different from the maps. The tread was faint. I was anxious and wet and cold. Like life in general, sometimes if you just grind it out, it turns out okay. The rain stopped. The trail was obvious. One scary moment was after I had put my pack on after a morning snack. I always check for my phone and camera. My camera was missing. The belt pocket in which I keep it handy was unzipped. Finding a black leather camera case in the forest duff was tough. After about 10 minutes I found it, a little wet, 7 feet away. When I hurriedly slung on my pack in the rain, it flung the camera out of the unzipped pocket. Lucky to have it back and functioning (as best it can in my hands).
I circled around the top of a canyon and reached Jones Pass. From there I had a set of ups and downs. Later in the day I was high up on the ridge and it felt good to cruise with a clear view. Racing darkness, I dropped down into a canyon on a faint trail. I quickly found a campsite in the dark and heated up a meal. I figured I went about 24 miles this day.
backpacking over the hill 