Cristin and I got a marginally faster start this morning. We read the map and saw that we could hike a small side trip to the historic Interlaken Resort. So we decided to do it. We packed up in the only sunshine we saw for most of the day and it had rained most of the night so we got to dry the tent out before we packed- lucky. Then hiked about a mile to the resort. It was SO cool!!! Loved it! The local and state groups that have worked on it have done an excellent job! So cool to see the house restored to the state it is in. And to be able to go in and walk through! AWESOME! We took to s of Picts, but my phone was dead so I only have a few.
It started sprinkling while we walked back to our packs where we would take the Collegiate East route to Clear Creek Rd to meet mom and dad. The rest of the day was up and down hills- it felt mostly up though! And rain of varying degrees. The clouds made the aspens and the changing colors pop and I enjoyed the cooler weather while we hiked.
We ate lunch standing under a tree for a few minutes and started moving again to keep warm because even with rain gear we were damp inside from exertion and it wasn’t cold but not really warm either. I tried my waterproof mitts over my woolen gloves while hiking in the rain. It worked great! My hands were warm and it made the rain so much more enjoyable. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling deep down to be in the forest warm and comfortable knowing I had warm dry clothes in my pack I could change into for sleeping. It was satisfying to be prepared. The only thing I could not do with my mitts on was take Picts with my phone or in this case with Cristin’s phone and so I compromised and took some shots for her with my nose…. Yes this is a technical process involving great nose dexterity. Most of them were blurry, but we got one that was ok. I am sure I looked suave doing it too.
We got to clear creek rd at 3:45 we had one last straight up slog up a ridge and then all of a sudden we topped out and the ridge was narrow so we almost immediately started back down and popped out of the trees for one of the most amazing views of the trip yet looking up Clear creek into the massive mountains we intent to hike into tomorrow. It was awesome the hill below us was so steep it felt for a moment that we were flying over the valley. It took us 45 minutes to hike off the ridge down, down, down to where mom and dad were waiting for us by the road and walked the trail with us back to the camper where chocolate awaited us. Yes I mean edible chocolate- and lots of it! We took showers washed clothes in the sink and re-packed our packs with food for the next 4 days to the 14th. Then with the rain and wind and cold coming down the valley we crawled into the camper and slept like rocks. Total trail mileage was 11.6.
