The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
August 3
Below Cataract Pass to above Waterfall (Jasper National Park) – 20.5 miles
I have got to say we really have not seen many GDT hikers since the first 2 hikers in our first week. I know they are out there, but I certainly have stopped looking. Doug did tell us that 90 hikers are hiking this year. This morning changed that.
Soon after early morning cruising down hill, I saw a hiker in the distance. He looked different. Number 1 he was hiking early morning and number 2 he had a ULA backpack. Turns out Gerald from Germany is hiking the GDT, but with all kinds of additional alternates with lots of cross-country and glacier travel. Gerald asked me if I was the blogger Lady on a Rock.
He had 11 days of food in his pack with an ice axe, crampons, and a DSLR camera with an extra zoom lens. Gerald is a very accomplished world traveler and long distance hiker.
We all spent the day hiking together. I got great tips on possibilities for future trips and had fun just talking hiking.
We said good bye after Jonas Shoulder, as Gerald was off for a cross-country trek.
Then the rain and mud started.
Why Not and I tried to stay warm, dry, upright, and positive. The trail was soft, slippery, and filled with muddy holes from horses. It really was hard walking.
We finally gave up, the rain subsided for a bit and we found a lumpy, slopey place to pitch our tents.
My tent is pitched so bad and by a dead tree. It is a funny shape and my air mattress doesn’t even fit. I have to place it cross-ways and there is a big depression in the middle. Best strategy is to sleep in a ball in that hole. Most of my stuff is wet and I am cold, but thankfully I am hearing rain on the outside of my tent and I am not out in it.
It will be an interesting sleep.
Some interesting finds on this section: the bridge, the antlers, the hiker. Beautiful photos too.
Awesome views again. I’m sure it was nice meeting a fellow hiker along the trail. Just can’t enough of those views that you are seeing. At least you haven’t had too much rain on GDT so you handled the rain and mud well.
I’m no engineer but think that bridge zig zag if for structural integrity in high water.
Really glad you included your comments and photos of Gerald. It is all inspiring that he comes from a different continent, brings all that gear, and just goes in whatever direction he wants.
Your photos, as always, just rock. And that first one, what a great perspective.
Hope you somehow slept well and got warm.
I love that Longfellow quote; but a damp, cold night doesn’t sound so great. Your attitude to always make the best of things is such an inspiration!