It kept acting like it was starting to rain again this morning, but it may have just been drops falling from the tree above me because it never stuck. My tent was mostly dry when I packed it up and got moving down the trail after 8.

The clouds burned off after a couple miles of hiking and it was all blue skies and sunshine. It made it hard to believe that there was a 90% chance of storms later in the day. But sure enough, I started seeing some gray and hearing some distant rumbling around 1pm. It only ever sprinkled on me here and there throughout my hike, but there was thunder and lightning several times.

I had views this morning of Mount Shavano and Tabaguache Peak, and Mount Princeton in the afternoon. The gray clouds seem to hang around the high peaks. My highest point today was only 10150′ and I was in the trees so I wasn’t too worried about the storms.

I got down to the Chalk Creek Trailhead just before 5, where I was supposed to be meeting Animal and Jeremiah. Stretch was supposed to fly out for the last week too but she sold her house and has less than a month before closing so is a little busy right now. She might join later.

It started raining just as I got to the trailhead but there was a big tree that blocked most of it so I sat under it to cook dinner. By the time I was done eating, the rain had slowed, and I decided to do a few more miles of road walk to Mount Princeton Hot Springs. We plan to camp tonight and do the hot springs tomorrow, but at least I got some of the road walk out of the way.

So it was 17.6 miles for the day and I waited at the bar at the resort having a few glasses of wine. When Animal and Jeremiah arrived after 9, we headed down the road to the Forest Service’s Chalk Lake Campground. We were lucky to get a spot. It normally fills quickly but the weather forecast may have scared some folks away this weekend. We got a great site and settled in for the night.