“The conditions are survivable.” - Dayhike
In the morning we did what Slow Magic does best: we met for breakfast. There were at least 15 people gathered around they table, seriously discussing the plan for the following week, checking weather reports, and tracking miles. Ultimately, we decided to take our chances with the storm, and we booked two shuttles going out of Lone Pine for the afternoon.
Folks carried beer and whiskey along, planning to hunker down that night for the impending storm. There were about twenty-five hikers sitting around eating their best food because we all had way too much food for the week... Or at least it was too much to carry. Animal couldn't even close his backpack; the top was open to grocery bags of Pringles that leaned every which way and eventually exploded at higher elevation - kapowee!
Dinner was brief; the ominous black clouds rolled in, and we all retreated to our tents, planning to reconvene at 7 am to make a plan for the following day depending on the conditions. Once in our tent, there was nothing left to do but drift into a deep sleep as the rain poured around us all night long.
[The calm before the storm; Same view about 20 minutes later; Scrumpy trying to start a fire with friction; van ride!]
