Thursday 9/29 – Slept in an hour today and awoke at 6:30. We wanted to make sure any snow on our route had time to soften. Departed camp at 8:30 and headed up toward the Old Snowy traverse and The Knife Edge prepared with rain gear. Soon we were enveloped by clouds and visibility was limited to about a quarter mile. Rain and wind impacted our visibility even more. The trail wound up through meadows and rocky slopes until we came to a wide snow slope. It was several hundred yards wide but had a good boot track through it, which we followed. We traversed up and down many shattered rock slopes following the trail as best we could.
As we completed the summit area of Old Snowy, we were faced with a narrow ridge stretching away in front of us into the clouds. As the wind and rain became stronger, we carefully followed the route along exposed ridge tops and large rock outcrops. It seems like it went on forever!
Finally, the trail dropped into a large meadow and we found shelter behind some trees for a break and some snacks. It had taken us 3 hours to complete this 5 mile section. Not bad considering the terrain and the conditions.
In 7 miles, we came to the turn-off for Hidden Springs and camp. Even though we had been cold and wet, we enjoyed the adventure. We settled in just after 3:30 to gobble some snacks and rest before our evening routine.
Dogleggers on the Trail 