Date: 2008-08-09
To: Soggy day
Miles today: 0.0

It started raining about 8:30 last night and sent us all to our tents. I didn't sleep quite as well as last night but not too bad either. I got up around 12:30 to attend to nature and tightened the tent up before climbing back in. It rained off and on all night.I woke up right near 5:30 and dozed for a minute or two before Brenda woke me up. It was a gray morning but not raining. I wanted to get up early and get going as I know it would be a long day to Deer Lake. Others wanted to sleep later so we decided last night that we did not have to stay together, I could leave early. So, after a nice breakfast and camp chores and chatting with everyone as they got up, I left at 7:20. The trail was very uphill and I am now resting and waiting for the others about 1800 ft higher up from our camp site. This year was a very high snow year in the northwest and there is a fair amount of snow on this ridge above Heart Lake. About 10 days ago they were recommending crampons and route finding skills but I was assured by a ranger that the trail was pretty much all open now and so far that seems to be right. There are some large snowbanks to cross but it is not difficult to find the trail.Glacier lilies, heather, shooting stars, marsh marigolds, Indian Paint Brush, and some bushes in the rhododendron family are blooming. Nice!Below Heart Lake (a lovely high mountain tarn) it started raining more steadily. Right now I am sitting in a cloud under some Alpine firs. I did see some blue sky earlier and have hopes we will see some later on today. Up here close to 5,000 ft it is a chilly 45 degrees but I am warm with jacket and rain gear except for cold feet as they got a bit wet from rock hopping across streams and the rain.There is more up and down to go so I hope the rest of the group gets here soon but I am enjoying the rest.Alas, there was no more blue sky this day. Instead it settled into rainforest weather, gray skies, foggy cloud, light rain, heavier rain, break in the rain and repeat, numerous times.I was very sad that my hiking friends could not see the spectacular views that I knew were there from taking this same hike a few years ago. The flowers, however, were wonderful even seen in the rain. Perhaps they stood out even more with no distracting views. I love the high meadows in any weather. The snow made life interesting and I seemed to go rather slowly. I was more interested in taking good care of myself and my poor knee than in keeping up with the others. I kept reminding myself to hike my own hike, be careful and enjoy myself. Good thing I can do that as shortly after lunch everyone else passed me and I saw no one else until toward the end of the hike.About a mile and a half from our campsite at Deer Creek, Cindy was hiking back up the trail to see what had become of me. Seeing her cheered me up a lot. She said that 2 of our group had decided to hike out as they were soaked and one was showing signs of hypothermia.That did not surprise me. In fact I would not have been surprised if I had gotten to Deer Lake and found that all were gone. Even with my rain gear I was also getting pretty soaked but I was pretty sure my sleeping bag and night wear were dry as they were in double plastic bags. So I was not worried for myself.Cindy and I kept on down the trail. Now they will all believe me when I say I am now the slowest hiker on the trail. When we finally reached Deer Lake, we found that 3 others had decided to hike out. Everyone was just drenched.I knew Bill and Cindy and Sandy wanted to hike out too although they had waited for me and would do whatever I chose. I said I could hike out but it would take me 3 hours at my pace on a rocky and very wet trail. It was then 7:00. So we set out knowing we would be hiking after dark but we had headlamps or flashlights so there was no real problem.We got to the parking lot at 10:00, exactly 3 hours from Deer Lake. The Niemis drove away and I elected to stay and sleep in my car as I had done 2 nights ago. I knew driving 4 hours late at night with my knee bent would be a bad thing. The knee would stiffen up and be even more angry with me for being on it for so long. So I fixed my freeze dried dinner and split pea soup I had not taken the time to eat before and I was probably asleep before the others reached Port Angeles.