We continue our race against the sun. This lake is the first water source we pass, but it is too far away in the wrong direction (the photo is cropped making it appear closer).
Despite the cold, I decide to wait in the mountain's shade to make sure Dave safely navigates a washed out section of the trail covered in snow. I didn't want to later be sitting in camp wondering if he had an accident at that nasty spot. Being day one of a long trip, our packs are heavy and can easily throw you off balance. In fact, I stumbled just before taking this picture in a section of trail not nearly as treacherous as what Dave must navigate through. Unable to catch my balance, I collapsed into the rocks ripping my pants and cutting my knee. I know I need to dress the wound but figured I would wait until we make camp before trying to break out first aid supplies.
Losing light fast, I look back for one last picture before turning my full attention to finding a place to make camp. When we finally found a suitable location, we had nearly no light left. I gave Andra the water container and she literally had to follow the sound down the hill in order to find the nearby creek while I quickly gathered wood and made a fire. Once the fire was built and Andra returned, we deployed our tent in the dark. My old backpacking tent's zipper finally wore out (after 12 years) and I bought a new one. Although I assembled the new tent at home when it arrived, that was last year! Having forgotten how it went up, assembling it in the pitch dark was quite a challenge. The new tent was awesome. Andra and I really like it. It weighs half what the old tent weighed. Unfortunately it cost four times as much :(
Dave rolled in about the time we were putting the finishing touches on the tent and he was glad to take a load off next to the fire while we waited for the pot of water to boil. While the water did its thing, Andra wiped down my wound with an alcohol swab as I bit through my lip.