Sunday, July 04, 2004
Life on the Divide--Seeing Where the Water Goes
07/04/04
We had a spectacular sunrise, and the rain began to fall just as Apple Pie and I left our first house on the Divide. I slept in her tent 'cause it's easy, and there were so few flat spots.
It was a light rain, the type of rain I've learned to ignore while backpacking. Why take the time to remove the pack, open it (releasing the ice axe in the process), dig out the rain gear, put it on, repack the pack, hoist the pack, only to have the rain stop a minute later? A little water never hurt this hiker.
Sure enough, the rain did stop.
Our relationship with the Divide before today had been fleeting at best. We'd have a climb up, cross the Divide, then drop down. It was a little exciting, but not like what we had today. Our whole day was going to be on or near the Divide. I found it pretty cool to walk knowing that I was on the line that defined, in certain terms, a division on the entire country.
The scenery was varied and lovely. At one point, we had what sounded like thunder below us. That was a first for me.
Toward noon, I found a nice little shelf overlooking a valley. The shelf offered protection from the wind. It's here that we decided to have lunch. Because it wasn't raining was the best reason for having lunch just then. And a good thing we did. As soon as we started walking, hail erased the memory of the moments of sunshine we enjoyed during lunch. We moved in and out of low clouds which were dramatic and disorienting. The weather continued, but eased up in time for dinner, but not without more hail.
The Divide has very little water on it. Apple Pie and Spur gave me water to cook dinner when we decided to stop to eat because it wasn't raining. I knew we could get water by hiking off trail a bit at Lewis and Clark Pass, so I headed down. On the way back up I saw what I think was a young weasel stick its head out from some rocks. It was so cute.
From Lewis and Clark Pass, we continued, eventually traversing a huge open hillside covered with grasses and wildflowers. And fog. The occasional cairn would help us adjust our route because the trail was often faint or non-existent. At some point we lost the trail. We knew we were at a critical navigation point, yet the rain pouring down urged us to keep hiking. We eventually stopped during a downpour to determine that we needed to take a sharp, uphill left until we hit the trail. We quickly found a strong trail and continued. We should have stayed on the high route.
Now that we were on the trail, finding a home for the night became our highest priority since night was falling. The map revealed lots of steep terrain, and the hour was growing late. Spur spotted a small saddle and went up to scout it.
Despite the wind, we chose the spot. Apple Pie and I are in her tent again.
It's a wet night.
Here's what the others are saying about today: rain, hail, steep climbs, wind, more rain, more hail, more steep climbs, etc.
Good night.
