Back in the Snow

It snowed during the night and left a dusting on the ground and on our tents.  Surprise!  But there was blue sky and sunshine and that was great.  The trail climbed most of the morning and we were in and out of trees.  

It was a beautiful day and we made good progress the first ten miles.  The last ten miles took a lot longer.  We were back in the snow.  Initially we has good trail with snow piles to cross over.  But soon it was all white, and we were back to hiking the topo map and not the trail.  It was 100% covered in snow.  

It wasn't too bad to walk on though.  The snow was consolidated and it was cold so post holes were minimal.  However the slushy top layer made it slippery.  We were slippin and slidin.  

It was slow and exhausting so we were excited to get to the road.  Highway 70 at the pass doesn't get a lot of traffic and is supposed to be a hard hitch.  I had just finished wishing for a ride when a fish and wildlife truck pulled up.  Yep, we got a ride within five minutes of being on the road.  We are camping at Lazy Acres RV park and campground.  It's a mile from Encampment where we all have boxes waiting for us.  The big question we face though is "now what?" Here's a picture of the gang at a water stop.