Mt. Gabb and Bear Lakes 1999

Rainstorm!  Woke this morning to perfectly clear skies despite seeing lightning in the distance 9-10 pm last night.  The clear skies didn’t last.  Right now I’m in the tent at 3:30pm waiting out a thunderstorm.  We’re just below Merriam Lake, making about 8 miles today.  Hike was rather uneventful--through valleys with trees.  Saw a lot fewer people than yesterday.  Left main trail about 1pm--the unmaintained trail toward Merriam Lake was better than we expected--steep but fairly easy to follow.  Just peeked outside--looks like hail on the ground.  Tomorrow we’ll attempt Feather Pass--hopefully the weather will improve.  UPDATE 6:30pm:  Cleared up for enough time to eat dinner--the sun even came out.  But now it has started back up again.  Lots of thunder, lightning, rain, and a bit more hail.

Glacier Divide

Glacier Divide over Piute Creek

Pilot Knob and Mt. Humphreys from below Merriam Lake