Normal efficient morning and we are underway by 7:30. We pump a liter of water and then head onwards and upwards to traverse some talus to meet the trail to Shepherd Pass without going all the way down into the Pothole. After the loose talus, the nice patch is a real treat. The route up through the pass, with its big snowfield, still isn't clear, which is a "fun" piece to all of this.
It starts to sprinkle, we cover the packs and break out the hard shells, and continue. Along the way we see switchbacks up through what otherwise seems to be an unpleasant chute to the right of the snow, which answers the questions of how one gets through the pass. Yeah! No dealing with steep snow today!
The rain gets harder and harder. Greg has spotted what looks like a sheltering group of rocks (leaning against each other with space underneath), so we head over there. Andrea crawls into the crack, we shove packs wherever they will go, and greg crams as much of himself as possible into the crack. The waiting begins... It rains, it starts to drip under our shelter, maybe it's raining less, maybe not, greg is antsy, Andrea is calm, it drips more, maybe it's raining less, maybe not. After about 15 minutes of this it really stops raining and we continue on our way.
The switch-backed path up to the pass is very nicely made through some dodgy terrain and cleverly avoids the snow patch. Something has eaten at least one deer on this slope because there are bones and bits all over the place. We come out up top, enjoy the last of the views back, and then move on 'til we can see down the very broad valley in front of us. Time for a snack break, but it's windy and threatening rain (the top of Mt. Tyndell, and much of the ridge is in clouds), so we make it quick and continue on. Past a couple disgruntled backpackers on their way out and onward. At some point we leave the trail and start traversing the slope that leads up to the saddle over to the Wright Lakes Basin. We see a third hiker down on the path. It's great to walk along this level, broad high valley! Once close to the slop up to the saddle we plan a route and then start up through the talus. The actual conditions blow the plan up more or less immediately: there's a nice easy weak spot that we can follow up, up the slope until it hits a switch-backed path coming more directly from the main trail far below. We follow this to rest of the way to the broad saddle.
We say goodbye to the valley and head across to say hello to the Wright Lakes Basin. Time for another snack break, which we end up doing huddled behind a rock to get out of the wind (tja... views...). We discuss and reject the idea of continuing along the ridge to its end and then descending into the basin and choose instead to just head directly down. On the way down we pass two other backpackers somewhat confusedly making their way up.
Down, down. The basin really is pretty: cool dead pines, nice views, dark dark clouds heading our way (again). We scout around a bit, find a campsite, pitch the tent, toss the stuff in it, and the sun comes out. WTF? We go pump some water, have another snack, and then set off for a stroll up the side valley between Tyndell and Barnard peaks Lovely walk up the moraine with cool vegetation and impressive granite walls and dark, dark clouds. We formulate a plan involving heading up onto a bit of a ridge and the thunder starts more or less immediately thereafter. So much for that plan. We turn back and take an alternate way past a couple of other really nice lakes. The thunder is getting worse, the clouds look evil, the wind picks up, we pick up the pace. We get back to the tent about five minutes before the hail starts. Yeah! The rest of the afternoon passes with us occasionally leaving the tent to enjoy the views and gawk at the approaching threatening clouds; it's somehow all quite entertaining. The tent mostly behaves.
At around 17:00 there's a larger break in the hostilities and we move around a bit outside. The wind has changed direction... that's got to signal a change in the weather... good sign! Around 17:45 we realize that the clouds heading our way from the new direction no longer look so innocent, so we quickly make dinner and enjoy a very cool cloud show on Mt. Barnard while waiting for the pasta to cook, then eat quickly and (mostly) tidy up really quickly to avoid getting soaked by the now dark clouds blowing our way. Retreat to the tent, write some blog, listen to some thunder, and we'll see if we get out of the tent again today.
The weather was particularly weird today because this is the first day that it has rained in the morning
and the first day that it's rained much after 17:00. Let's see what the rest of the evening and the morning brings. Andrea is being an optimist: "it's all a good sign!"
Dinner: Pasta with spicy sausage. Meh... not as good as the last two nights (and that's not just because we were eating really fast).
Track (includes both the hike and the afternoon walk):
Stats:9.1km, about 450m up and down. Then ~3km with 150m up and down for the afternoon walk.
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