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Day 7: Mon Jul 28, 1997

 Didn't seem to sleep too well in the tent. Was sometimes too chilly, other times a bit warm. Heard intermittent light sprinkles on the outside of the tent. I had a minor headache, either from the altitude or from lack of rest in the days before. Got up for a bathroom run early, 6 something. Was a bit foggy but not raining. After returning to the tent we heard rain, fairly intense at times. Was hoping it would clear up so we could get some good photos, the area was quite scenic. But it rained quite a bit so we started packing things up. That's a lot harder when it's raining. The tent was dry inside and we got the bags and mats packed ok. But the tent had to be packed wet. We put our rain jackets on and pack covers and finally headed back toward the car. It was too rainy for pictures. I was wearing shorts, hiking boots with gaiters, a rain jacket, and white earmuffs, and had a pack with a big light colored pack cover over it. The Gortex boots with the gaiters kept my feet warm and dry. My shorts got some laughs but are much easier to deal with when backpacking. I didn't use the rain hood but let my head get soaked in the cool drizzle, it felt good and I enjoyed the hike back to the car. Bob and Vallerie had parkas that covered them and their packs and made them look very large. Sharleen mentioned that the car was low on gas, and I wondered if the lights had been turned off. I also wanted to check a tire that had a possible slow leak. The road we had taken to the pass was partly dirt and was mud in the rain. We got to the car, packed everything up, and headed over toward Georgetown to find a gas station. The road had been graded, half anyway, a large ridge of dirt was still in the center and Sharleen had to be careful where our side narrowed and dropped off into a fast stream down over a steep bank. We made it back, dried the wet stuff in the yard and later in the evening went to an Indian Restaurant.

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