Wednesday, July 15
We were all sad to leave the ranch. We almost wanted to stay the rest of the day. But decided that we should keep walking.
She dropped us off back at trail and it began to rain soon after. The umbrella was once again amazing. Andy and Leah don't have umbrellas but decided immediately that they have to get some.
About 8 miles in the lightning started. We were safe in a big river valley, but today was the closest I've ever been to a lightning strike. The time between the flash and crackle of thunder was very fast, but not instant. The thunder was so loud it made my ears ring a little bit.
We continued hiking as the thunder drifted further away.
We had on and off rain all day. Our profile for the day was mostly up. About 3000+ feet right from the beginning. It was gradual, but very long.
There was a trail crew working on the trail higher up. They were drilling holes to blast the rock to clear the trail.
The trail climbed up from the valley to gain the divide and then drop back down the other side. The top was very exposed to lightning. We found a break in the weather to try to push to get over. But by the time we got to the top, we saw a huge black cloud coming straight towards us. Continuing down trail was more exposed, so we retreated back to where we came from about 1/3 of a mile to hide from any lightning that may come. Once it cleared we were able to get up and over to the other side.
We hope for a little better weather the next few days.
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