Day 29 - Mental Toughness

Dave ended up calling twice tonight. The first call seemed like a word game. I heard the following: sunny, thunder, passes, no trees, hypothermia, hail, lightning, woke up freezing. Then we lost the connection. I was relieved when he called back and I could ask questions and understand what he was saying. They woke up this morning and they were really cold (freezing). The day was sunny and quickly warmed. They crossed several passes at high altitude. They were around 12,000' all day. They went over the Divide again. The trail is above the tree line, leaving them exposed. They are watching the weather very carefully. One minute it will be sunny and warm with one little wisp of a cloud in the distance and within a few moments they are in the middle of a horrible thunder storm. They have had to dash to the trees to insure they are not the tallest out there because that lightning would be seeking them out. They arrive in the trees sweaty and wet, and then they are cold. The rain is bitterly cold. They have needed mental toughness to get through today. Dave assured me that all three of them have that mental toughness. They see some tough days ahead. They will be hiking what Dave believes is the toughest part of the trail for the next 4 days. This will be made harder by the weather. They will have on again, off again rain and storms. You can check your favorite online weather app and look at Lake City, CO or Silverton, CO. They will be resupplied tomorrow At Spring Creek and will take one day at a time. Their goal is to be safe. They are ahead of schedule. After tomorrow's resupply they may only have one more resupply 4 days later. This is mainly due to the lack of access or bad access to the trail. Today they got through section 20 and into section 21. They plan on finishing section 21 tomorrow and will hike some of section 22. Dave did mention that 95% of the trees died over the past 10 years due to bark beetle. If all goes as planned the guys and Tennille will be off the trail, arriving in Durando, in 11 days. This is one of the toughest hikes Dave has done. He is enjoying the hike, the scenery, the company, the folks he's met on the trail, but he is looking forward to completing the 500 miles. Although very challenging it is a great accomplishment. Tonight's location: 37.9574 -107.01686 In camp tonight at 2:30 mountain time