Highlights:
Wake-up at 8, we hear Jimmy's autobiography over breakfast and are out
of camp by 10, on our way to the highway where we have to meet the van by
2pm. Everything is wet from the previous day's storms, the descent
is increasingly difficult and the going is slow. Jeff takes over
the lead for a bit, getting us through the worst part, and eventually goes
ahead to let Dan know we are running behind. We make steady progress,
following the creek, but it is still steep and difficult terrain, and many
of us are dealing with random aches, pains and illness. Jeff meets
back up with us around 3pm (after a brief scare when we hear his three whistle
blasts in an attempt to locate us), and given that we aren't going to make
it back for our service project anyway, we finally stop for lunch. We
plunge on with Jeff leading us the highway. On the way, Jody needs
to stop and we leave her with Pip and Mac as the rest of us continue on,
finally crossing Early Winters Creek. As we are making our way up the
man-made talus field at the side of the highway, we hear three whistle blasts.
Jeff takes off while we continue up to the van on the highway. Jeff
soon returns to let us know that Mac is lost in the woods somewhere. But
Pip, Jody and Mac appear shortly, all safe, and we load up the van and are
on our way to base camp. Riding in the van feels surreal.
Dan meets us at base camp, where we will be sharing the field with Betsy
and Kevin's patrol. We hear Jeff's autobiography over dinner. Evening
circle was ...