It was sort of hard to get back on the trail today, after slackpacking for two days and staying in the Twin Lakes Inn for three nights. Mike agreed to drop off Shroomer first, just a mile down the road. Then he took me back to the Mt. Massive Trailhead and I struck out, this time heading NOBO.
Rain was forecast for the early afternoon, so I hoped it would be light and/or not too long. First up was a steep climb, which was taxing. But then the trail flattened out and became quite lovely.
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Heading for Timberline Lake
The path here was mostly dirt – nice! – and there were lots of large boulders (glacial erratics?) on the sides of the trail, which made it easy to take a break by resting my backpack on the rocks.
Shortly before noon, I ran into a couple out for a day hike. She was Hurry Up and I forget 
his name. Hurry Up said it wasn’t supposed to rain today after all. Yes!
I passed several other hikers, plus a teen group of newbie hikers. It was such a lovely day! But the it began to rain lightly, then hail (also lightly). I put on my pack cover, coat and rain skirt.
Trail Magic!
For the last two hours of my hike, it splattered here and there. There was thunder, but no soaking rain. The trail got pretty rocky, which was disappointing. But I found a really large, lovely campsite near Lake Fork, a creek. Three other young people are camping here, too.
One man was picking up his in-laws at the Timberline Lake Trailhead, which was steps away from our campsite. The in-laws have been section-hiking the Colorado Trail for about a decade. When the in-laws arrived, they invited all of us over for some trail magic – potato chips and canned peach margaritas. YES!
What a great end to the day.
Snowshoe
Today’s Miles: 12.9 (20.8 km)
CDT Miles to Date: 893.2 (1,437.5 km)
CDT Miles to Go: 2,206.8 (3,551.5 km)
My favorite piece of gear today: This rain skirt. It’s easy to put on, lightweight and keeps me dry past my knees.
