07/14/2026 Hike

Got up between 6:00 and 6:30, I rolled up my sleeping quilt and put it in the waterproof stuff bag to ensure it stayed dry even in the tent. We had a very leisurely opening of the day, I had a couple of cups of coffee, a mint chocolate protein bar, and a bowl of Kodiak oatmeal with some Gorp thrown in. The coffee jazzed me up again, weather was cloudy with periodic sunshine. I spent some more time filtering water, had my morning constitutional by a tree, and later on went down by the lakeside and washed my hair and upper body. I also rinsed out the shirt from the previous day. Back to the campsite, where in the late morning we decided to take a day hike over to the overlook by Tully Hole. Packed up lunch stuff and walked about a mile south on the trail until we found a decent (not great) spot. The sun was out and had been out for a while by this time, so we enjoyed the weather while it lasted. Talked to several people on the trail heading both ways, most had interesting stories. We walked back toward the campsite and continued on to the water crossing, where I mapped out my crossing strategy for the following day. Back to the campsite from there, and we had some time with sun before the clouds rolled in. We all took turns filtering water until it started to rain. Jason was thinking about going in the water, but the threatening clouds put a stop to that idea. Once it started to rain, the skies really opened up. One squall came through, and dropped hail on us. After a lull, where we were able to sit out and chat, we got really dumped on for about an hour, including a second wave of hail. All four of us hunkered down under a set of trees that kept us dry for about 10 minutes before the rain broke through our cover. It was miserable. I was chilled and a little damp in my socks, hands, and around my neck. When this cell let up I got in the tent, changed into a long sleeve shirt with a t-shirt over it, and put on dirty dry socks. That helped me warm up, and I was somewhat comfortable for a while, the sun even came out and warmed the inside of the tent up before going behind the clouds. Wrapped my feet in a shirt that was mostly dry, and that also helped. This next storm cell brought really heavy rain and loud thunder, although I didn't see lightning flashes. The temperature dropped as well, and it was hard to stay warm enough. Had my gloves on and my feet in a dry bag didn't want to break out my sleeping quilt. The storm lasted over an hour before starting to taper off. Joe and I debated whether to cook by the tent. I had walked quickly out when the rain was less and brought back his bear canister. But when we shouted to Mike and Jason they were already out and planning to use the kitchen area to make dinner.. We joined them and it was a great call. The weather held all the way through dinner and into the evening past sunset. The sun even came out for a bit. I had curry rice, was a good mix with perhaps too much sauce (but maybe not, it was good to sip). I passed out the last set of liquor bottles and used my vodka to add into chamomile tea. I think it burned off the alcohol and didn't add much flavor. Better to chug it and chase it with the tea. After dinner we filtered the water for breakfast and enjoyed the remains of the day in a somewhat dry state (my feet were a little wet from being in damp boots without socks). Got some decent pics around sunset, was in the tent and settled down by about 8:30. The beginning and end of this day were so much better than the stormy middle. When I was in the tent and struggling to get warm I kept asking myself why I was doing this. But I was reminded about the beauty of nature at the end of the day. Overall, it got a plus.