Day 16 - July 27

An early start to the day today.  We have about 11 miles to cover, up and over Glen Pass, and then meet the resupply horses & mules by 2:30.  Up about 5, with hot drinks ready at 5:30 - yawn!  It was about 5C inside the tent but judging by the frost on everything outside, it had dropped below freezing overnight.  Clear skies again, so looking forward to another beautiful day.  The sun gradually made its way down the mountain and gave us a nice reflection on Arrowhead Lake.  We were on the trail just before 7.  The first section was pretty flat, maybe up a few hundred feet to Rae Lakes - absolutely stunning!  Wonderful reflections on the lakes.  I took so many pictures that I was at the back of the pack by a long shot.  Here is a sampling...............

And now the climb to Glen Pass begins.  Great views all the way up of Fin Dome, Rae Lakes, Painted Lady, and other mountains surrounding the lakes.  As we climbed toward the pass lots of additional lakes materialized around us - beautiful!  It was another amazing engineering feat to build this trail; lucky us to benefit from someone else's hard work.  Looking up, it's sometimes hard to believe there is a way to get up there.  I had it in my mind that this pass was over 13,000' so it was a pleasant surprise when we topped out at 11,926'.

Ah yes......  nice hair............ oh well, haven't seen a mirror in 2 weeks and frankly I don't care.......

After a bit of a break at the top it was time to get on with the steep descent down the other side.

Once again, it's hard to believe there is a trail to the top in there...........

Lovely Charlotte Lake.

One last look toward the pass now behind us.

And the view & downhill ahead.  The downhill was mostly in the trees so not many pictures in the afternoon.

We were due for a resupply today so after lunch Alex went ahead to meet the horses & mules.  We were to meet the horses at 2:30 at Vidette Meadow.  We got there in lots of time (2:10) and the horses arrived promptly at 2:30.  In the interim I had taken the opportunity to dry out my tent and dip my feet in the creek.  The resupply folks would need to overnight before they headed back anyway so they agreed to ride with the resupply load to our campsite, a few more miles down the trail, and camp with us for the night.  We climbed a bit to just under 10,000' (and therefore legal campfire territory) to a large campsite that we would be sharing with quite a few others.  We got in at a decent time - laundry, bath, hair wash, etc.  Dixie had wisely arranged to have some wine packed in and kindly shared with all.  It was only a small glass each, but much appreciated!  The resupply ladies (both very young, but accomplished horse people) joined us for dinner - so nice to visit with them.  A bit of entertainment for us tonight.  Carla (the troublemaker mule) broke free and ripped through camp with Sierra (one of the handlers) skiing behind her until she slowed down.  Carla was then separated from the others so that couldn't cause so much trouble.  The horses and mules were moved before nightfall to a designated area behind a fence but then given free reign to graze.  Apparently they wandered a bit during the night and the young ladies had a bit of a search for them the next morning.  Big day, with heavy packs, tomorrow!

Stats for the day:  about 11 miles, 5060 feet up, 5540 feet down (seems a bit much, but that's what the altimeter read).  Elevation at camp - just under 10,000'.