Day 13 - It's Raining Its Pouring

Dave checked in twice today. He first called from Tennessee Pass at 9:00 am pt. Last night they camped 5 miles away from the pass. Dave confirmed that they hiked 16 miles yesterday. They had gotten over 12,000 feet and gone over Kokomo Pass and Searle Pass. The highest they got was 12,400 on Elk Peak. They had planned on stopping sooner but they needed to find a good water source. Yesterday they went around the historical 10th Mountain Divisions training area. I say "around" because of the warning signs that stated there was live ordinances. The 10th Mt. Division was around during WWII. They also saw coke kilns for a train that had gone through the area. The trains and the tracks are no longer there but where they had been are now trails. Today their resupply was scheduled to come at 3:00 pm. The boys had to find ways to amuse themselves while waiting in the parking lot. These experienced hikers know that any plans can change at a moments notice. They are always happier to sit a bit and wait for their Trail Angels than to have to rush and make the re suppliers wait. Nancy, Paul, and Virginia are the three Resuppliers for this beginning portion of the trail. Nancy drove about 300 miles to get the boys and the dog their food! She also brought along Subway, cokes, and cookies. Across from the parking lot today were the 10th Mountain huts. Dave was going to spend some time exploring the site. After their 5 mile hike and then resupply they got back on the trail to hike an additional 3 1/2 miles. When you spend one day not hiking it is called a Zero Day. When you hike under 8 miles it is call a Near Zero Day. Anything over 8 miles is considered a full day. They got their 8 1/2 miles in today! It's been raining every day somewhere between 4 & 6. It only lasts for about 30 minutes. There has been a lot of thundering and lightening. Yesterday or the day before 16 people got hit by lightening. The one casualty that Trevor's mom told me about was a German Shepard. From what I heard these folks were trying to get to the top of a peak and misjudged the weather. Dave and Trevor have been in camp with tents up when the rain starts most days. Dave did say that one day they were racing the clock. They are now on the west side of the continental divide which gets less water than the east side. The lakes were much fuller on the east side. As we were talking tonight it was pouring. Dave was so happy that Nancy had brought them Subway because he didn't have to cook food in the rain. Actually I don't think he'd mind the rain as much as the bazillion gazillion gazillion bazillion (quoting Dave) mosquitos! They were trying to find a way into his tent. They had gotten a few nibbles off of him and must have gotten the word out to others. He thanks everyone for the good wishes and great comments about his beard! He's taking lots of pictures and will share more as he can. He tried to text some to me tonight but they wouldn't go through. He will keep trying. Jane