It rained off and on during the night. The last time I heard it was at 4:30 and since we were due to get up at 5, I thought for sure we'd be packing up in the rain - yuck! But - luck was with us and it stopped before 5. It continued to hold off and we could see some openings in the sky; enough to see the moon setting through the trees. We had a few other noises during the night as well. I heard coyotes twice, and Alex said that he heard a mountain lion as well. Breakfast took a long time to prepare - polenta, sausage and cheese. Not my favourite foods and I couldn't stomach very much of it. Between that and waking up a lot during the night, I didn't feel that great today. The temperature was cool and the skies threatening when we left but again it didn't amount to anything.
We started the day with some downhill, but soon enough were climbing towards yet another pass - Guyot Pass (10,760') today. We were up there by about 10 and then it was followed by a steep downhill of about 1500'. We regrouped where we crossed Rock Creek and we had a bit of a mutiny there. The guides had planned to have lunch further down the trail, but nobody was moving. I know I was pooped all day. And speaking of poop - lots of horse poop on the trail. It seemed like every 20 feet in places. And the smell of it made me feel nauseous. The poop situation got a bit better after we left the PCT onto the Army Pass Trail shortly after the Rock Creek crossing. The terrain was a lot like walking on beach sand all day - ugh! We saw lots of large trees today (Foxtail Fir & pine), many of them dead but still standing. Lots of trees to add to my "Dead Trees of the JMT" book. Their root systems are so shallow for their size that this must contribute to their demise. There was no underbrush or grass whatsoever - very stark! Once we got below 10,000', though, we did start to see a bit of ground vegetation again.
Finally out of the starkness once we're further along the Army Pass trail.
We started hearing thunder about 3 during our rest stop at a little lake.
Time to hustle into camp and get set up for the night before the impending thunderstorm hits. It was still sunny when we got in. We had time to get everything done although the skies were looking pretty nasty about 5:30. In the end it didn't rain but I was still in the tent by 8. There are not a lot of campsites along this route so this one was getting a bit crowded. We weren't the first in nor were we the last. It ended up being a beautiful evening by the lake. Our last night in the tents. Our dinner treat was "Bananas Foster" - bananas heated up with butter, brown sugar, chocolate & rum. Conversation turned to highlights of the trip - food & otherwise.
Stats for the day: about 11 miles, 2240 feet up, 1880 feet down. Elevation at camp roughly 10,500'.
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