Another cold and wet day today, I could definitely feel the seasons changing. Overnight the wind picked up a lot, and early in the morning heavy rain began. There was no rush to pack up in the rain, in fact we were prepared to do a trail zero if it kept up. It rained constantly until 10 am, and continued intermittently after that. During a break in the rain, we took the opportunity to pack up and move at least a few miles for a change of scenery. We descended past Spectacle Lake and Delate Creek, then wrapped around to Lemah Meadows at the base of tomorrow’s long climb. We covered just 6.8 miles, 10.9 km today, but still made the most of the afternoon.

I woke up late this morning, glad that my tent had held strong through the blustery night. I stayed under the fly for hours, eating breakfast and chatting with Pretzel, who had not been as lucky and had to deal with sand blowing throughout, and water pooling on the floor.

Around 10:30 or 11:00 am, there seemed to be a pause in the weather and even a brief spell of sunshine. We took the opportunity to pack up without filling our bags with water. The clear spell was followed by more rain, but I had my jacket and umbrella to protect me as I left camp.

I reached a point looking over Spectacle Lake and further down to Delate Meadows below that. At this point, there was another break in the rain and I was able to take a break to enjoy the misty mountain scenery.

The descent was steep and quite harsh on the body. It took about 2 hours to come down from the top, by the time I reached the bottom, I was very sore, and glad not to be attempting the next climb right away.

Another hour and a half walking through the forest took me around a spur and over two creeks to camp for the night at Lemah Meadows. The rain had let off, and the forecast was good for the rest of the week. I was happy to have a change of scenery and to get one piece of tough elevation out of the way as I prepared for sleep.