Day 9
Start mile 1164.44
End Mile 1174.95
Total Miles 10.95
Marvin arrived at my campsite, ready to roll, but I still had my tent to take down. As Marvin had rolled his ankle again during his walkabout, it was decided he would go on ahead to get it warmed up. My tent fly was soaked, and my tent footprint was also wet, which meant any loose grit or pine needles would stick to it. This is a part of the camping process I detest, but my tent needed to be packed, so I set about getting it done. Finally, I was ready to leave.
The trail started off heading slightly uphill but was not to bad really. In a few minutes, I reached a turning that led to Paradise Lake, the destination of a lot of day hikers we had met before. It was at this juncture that the trail turned left and shortly thereafter I was navigating through the snow. After about one hour, I caught up with Marvin, who was positioned below me trying to find the trail. Between the two of us, we were successful and eventually we came to a small bridge and several campsites and decided this would be a good place to stop for breakfast. On today’s menu was a Mountain House Breakfast Skillet, which is scrambled eggs and bacon. Marvin added the boiled water, and after a few minutes, it was ready to eat, and we added the contents of the package to a tortilla wrap. It was very tasty!!
It was time to go, and so we set off hoping for the best, that being no snow. The walking was pleasant for the first little while, but then we started to climb. Up and up we went, and we found that although the going was tough, it was a lot easier than a week ago. It would appear we are getting our hiking legs under us. Eventually, we reached the top and dumbfounded at the views that lay before us. There were lakes, meadows, mountains and much much more. It made all the toil and effort of the past week or so worthwhile. I could have snapped a dozen or more photos quite easily but settled for 4-5, and I just hope they look as good when transferred from my I-Phone to the computer. We had certainly been blessed for our efforts. We moved on and about a mile down the trail we met a 50’s something couple out walking their two Australian Sheepdogs, one looked to be getting on in years, and the other looked to be about 6-7. In the heat of the day, their tongues were hanging out, and they were panting heavily. We stopped and had a brief chat and then we were on our way again but this time in the right direction, down!!.
At the bottom of the hill was a creek and so we stopped for a water break. At the same time, we took the opportunity to fill our water bottles as it’s always a good thing to do. Just as we were getting ready to leave who should come down the hill but the two Australian Shepherds and they were heading straight for the creek. The owners were not far behind, and they said they were now taking the dogs to the lake so they could cool off. One thing I do know is they were very tired puppies.
After saying our goodbyes, we set off and crossed the road that runs through the forest. We had only gone a short way, maybe 3-300 yards when I looked up to see a young bear, just a few feet up a tree looking at me. I turned to Marvin, and he said we should turn back and retreat a little, just in case Momma is around. This young bear had no fear and came down the tree and started to follow us. At this point, Marvin took the lead and started hollering at the bear to leave the path as it was ours. The bear kept coming, but something scared it back up a tree. After a couple of minutes, I advanced a short way up the trail to see where the bear was, and it reared up on its back legs to get a better look at me. I tried to get my I - Phone out to take a picture, but the bear dropped down, and I could barely see him. Marvin then started to waive his hiking poles over his head and got very aggressive, and that seemed to do the trick as the bear lost interest and we were able to pass without any further problems.
We enjoyed another climb but on the backside of the mountain was more snow, and finally, around 4-30 pm we called it a day. There was a couple of campsite’s just slightly off the trail, but we were tired after our exertions in the snow, and we were happy to claim them. As we were there early, there were a number of hikers pushing through, several of whom stopped to chat. One young guy was from Calgary, and by a strange coincidence worked at Glenmore Audi. I told him I would look him up if I ever accompany Liz to the dealership. There was also a young fellow from Pittsburgh called 12 -Pack and a fellow from San Diego and a young woman from the Czech Republic. It truly is an international trail, as Marvin had heard there were over 500 Germans on the trail this year. As I was typing this blog, I was falling asleep, so I’d better sign off now and get to sleep.
Wanderer.
