We arrive at the lake around 4:30pm and begin to scout the best place to set up camp. The sky is growing ominously dark around us, but is mostly still sunny directly overhead. We find a nice place to pitch the tents, in the clump of trees just above Barry and Phil in the photo below. With tents erected, it's down to the lake for a quick dip for Phil and Scott. Barry elects to stay dry, warm, and Monsanto-free.
Upon returning to the campsite, Scott notices that his tent has blown about
20 yards downwind. Yes, the wind is picking up and the sky is growing ever
more ugly. Food preparation begins- tonight it's Chili with Macaroni in a
bag (it's better than it sounds)- amidst the sound of distant thunder. Just
as dinner is ready it begins to hail and the group takes shelter in the tents.
The pea-size hail continues for ten minutes or so and the thunder grows nearer.
Occasionally we see the associated lightning flash and count seconds between
it and the thunder. First it's 10 seconds and two miles, then 8 seconds for
roughly a mile and a half. Then a large flash lights up the inside walls
of the tent. Scott immediately utters "That one was close!", but the word
'close' could not be heard over the resulting thunder. 2 seconds- less than
a half mile- time to start being concerned?
Fortunately, that was as close as it got, and as the hail turns to sprinkles
and the thunder gets less frequent and more distant, we are able to emerge
from the tents once again. Soon even the sprinkles abate, and the sky shows
some signs of clearing. We gather what scarce firewood we can find and build
a cozy fire as dusk arrives. At 10:00pm, with all the wood burned except
for a large log which had steadfastly refused to burn until now, it was time
to hit the rack. The log easily succumbs to a quick dousing from a water
bottle. It's a peaceful night.
The group gets a better start the next morning and is on the trail by a more
respectable 8:15am. Thus begins what is supposed to be the big day,
the one with the greatest distance travelled. Optional routes from this point
on allow great flexibility in distance covered today and Scott is shooting
for something in the range of 16 miles. A slight miscalculation and unexpected
events will dictate otherwise as you will see.