Surprisingly, this morning wasn’t as cold as the last two. I say surprising, because this morning when I woke up it was snowing. I followed the trail around the ridges of Tatie Peak, high above Trout Creek. At one point I found a rock lookout with good cellphone signal, which was the perfect place to make after tail arrangements. I then headed over a saddle and down towards Harts Pass, passing above Brown Bear Campground, Meadows Campground and around the back of Harts Pass Peak. At Harts Pass, Last Strap, a hiker who I’d camped with two nights ago, had organized with his dad to host trail magic at the pass. I spent a couple of hours here before finding camp just 10 minutes up the trail. Today was a 6 mile, 9.7 km day.

When I woke up, it was snowing on my tent, but I hadn’t really felt the cold last night as I did the night before.  This morning was a beautiful sunrise with snow flurries around the valley and it was pretty exciting to be out in these conditions so late in the season. I cooked breakfast under my tent fly, and by the time I’d finished, the snow had stopped.

I packed up and left at 9 am, I’ve decided that at this stage of the game, there’s just no point fighting to wake up before the sun and leave just a couple of hours earlier. After I’d left, the trail wrapped around the ridges under Tatie Peak. Along the way, the clouds opened up to show me amazing scenery below.

Just around the corner, I got to a rock lookout with excellent cell signal, the first I’ve had in five days, and the last I’ll get until after I’ve come off trail. I spent over an hour standing in the wind and snow, contacting people at home, organizing transport and accommodation for after the trail, and getting out a couple of updates for this blog too. By the time I’d finished, the skies had cleared once again, and I was treated to even more jaw dropping views.

I rounded the bend and saw Harts Pass ahead, reflections off car windows parked up there caught my attention immediately. It was a short walk to the road crossing, and along the way I met dozens of day hikers who all stoked my excitement to be nearly finished. The trail took me around the back of Harts Pass Peak, and from this side of the mountain I saw a lot of cloud racing up the valley to hit Harts Pass.

I spent hours at Harts Pass, hanging out at Last Strap, and Dad Strap’s trail magic. Hikers were coming through who’d just finished and the party atmosphere was so good. In the late afternoon, I walked just up the trail to camp, arriving just in time to shelter from more snow in the evening.