Last night it rained hard with quite a few thunderstorms. We were fortunate to be able to pitch our tents under a picnic shelter and stay out of the rain and not have to pack up wet gear this morning. We had to pitch our tents on a gravel bed which was a little risky as the rocks could cut through our tent floors and even into our sleeping pads. But we thought it was a risk worth taking so that we could keep everything dry, and it appears to have paid off.

Daniel and I left the tent site around 10:00 this morning after the rain let up a bit. However, this was short lived as we were mostly soaked by the end of the first hour. At times we were literally walking up rocky trails with 4 inches or more of water coming down the mountain over our feet. And, as we gained altitude, we picked up a breeze and dropping temperatures. By the end of our hike neither of could feel our fingers or toes. Also as we were in the clouds and fog for the last hour, we had limited visibility and, at one point near the end of our hike, we made a wrong turn that took us the opposite direction from where we should have been going. Daniel realized this quickly when he glanced at his GPS watch and could see we missed a turn. Both he and I were very puzzled how there could be so few signs/markers on a trail as popular and traveled as the TMB is. On a day like today, or with even worse conditions, that could be a really dangerous situation. 

After arriving at our destination we both quickly pitched our tents, got out of our wet clothes, changed into something dry and climbed into our sleeping bags to get warm. I am typing this blog from inside my sleeping bag as the wind is very strong and I am still trying to get warm. Daniel has a small camping stove and boiled some hot water and made us both a coffee. That was a great treat. We are still at a pretty high elevation tonight (over 6,000 feet) so no access to any food sources except our food bags. 

Despite the conditions today I felt stronger and had a better pace as I suppose my jet lag is fading and I have mostly acclimated to the six hour time difference. 

I will not be able to post any photos from today as the cell signal I have is too weak and also because the weather conditions today did not favor taking but a couple of pics. The forecast for tomorrow is for sunshine which will surely be appreciated after today.