I slept over the decision to stay or go and still woke up conflicted. Scratch had scheduled a walk with an angel tracker for the late afternoon and booked a motel room in Independence. I had some time to decide, so I kept an eye on the weather as I spent most of the day trying to rest at the hostel.
I met up with Phoenix and the international hiking group. Everyone went hiking today, which made me feel a little more comfortable with the weather. Anyway, rascal, straight, jug and I were going to split up a little. I thought my best decision would be to join the big international tram so I would have people I know to review passes with. So I officially decided to go on a night hike.
Weather radar showed a slight chance of thunderstorms until 5 p.m. The trail angel picked us up at 4 in the afternoon, allowing time for the storm to pass. However, when we reached the trailhead the sky was dark gray. We heard thunder every few minutes and it started to rain. Loon, Scratch, Turtle and I hid in the bathroom doors contemplating what to do. I was ready to set up my tent and hike there in the morning, but I didn’t want to get separated from the group. We waited 45 minutes before deciding to continue walking. The weather started to look like it might clear up, and if it didn’t, you had to camp 2 miles from the trail.
Fortunately as soon as we started walking the sky cleared up. It was late, so I knew we couldn’t make it 7.5 miles to the junction, but we could cross Kearsarge Pass and camp on the other side.
The sunset over the pass was unreal. We reached the top just as we were losing daylight, so I pulled out my headlamp and we ran around the switchbacks to find the first available campsite. It was a long night, but I’m glad I got some miles done. The next section looks tough and I’m glad we’re not starting with a two-pass day.
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