Hiking Together: Meetup: Day 46 – Thursday 8/27/2020 – 2017.6 – clear, sunny, gusting wind, cool, hot, monsoon rain with hail, clearing. I woke up at 5 am at Middle Mineral. Several tents had appeared overnight. I quietly packed up and was on trail at 5:50 am. I had only 10 miles, but started with a 3.5 mile climb. I dunno why, but it was harder than I thought. Then the descent included a long rocky path. Then crossing a mesa was just up and down. Around 9:50 am I saw a hiker coming towards me. IT WAS JUSTIN! It was so nice to see him. We still had about 3.5 miles to go. I stopped for a snack and a 7-Up to get more energy. Onward over this mesa we went. Then we began a 2 mile descent. It was steep and rocky and just never seemed to end. Finally we got to the parking lot around 11:30. The hiker Rewind stopped by to chat. I dried my tent on the ground held down by rocks. I was worried about getting caught in the upcoming rain. The clouds looked threatening. We went 0.1 mile up trail to find me a camping spot and Justin a parking spot. It was early afternoon. We talked to Buffalo and Apollo who were going on. There is not much water via CDT Guthooks but Colorado trail says there is some in 2 and 8 miles. I’m planning on slack packing tomorrow. Then around 5 pm Honey Buns, Cheech and her brother stopped to camp here. Unfortunately it began to rain and hail and we watched them, while sitting in the Jeep, try to set up their tents in the downpour. OMG! Nevertheless they were successful with their tents and drove off to town. When it stopped about an hour later my tent was ok. I hope the other earlier hikers who went on weren’t caught in it. Tomorrow the weather is dicey. We shall see.
