It was a chilly morning and I kept my rain coat on as I set off. However, the trail quickly started to climb so I warmed up and took off my jacket. After a lot of climbing, the trail came out into the open with along a sort of ridge with some great views.

I took a break to enjoy the views but it was quite windy up there and still quite chilly so it was a short break before I kept on. Eventually the trail descended down to a creek and campsite. On the way down, I slipped trying to step over a blowdown and ended up scraping and bruising my shin. It hurt a lot in the moment but was ok after a minute. The descent was muddy in places and horses, which can be used on the GDT, made matters worse. I finally made it down before having to head up again after the creek and campsite. The climb was tough going, but also well worth it since the trail came out into the open with expansive views of Beehive mountain. The sun had come out and it was warm enough to stop and have lunch without putting any layers on.

Continuing on, the trail was up and down a bit, mostly in the open. It crossed a few gullies and as I turned a corner, I saw a mountain lion on the trail in one of them but it bounded off in a split second down the gully and out of sight. I made a lot of noise and kept checking behind me for the next little while, but all was ok. After contouring Beehive, there were some more expansive views of the Divide before heading down into the forest again. It was about 7 km of pretty easy but also a little boring track through the forest to camp. I could hear thunder in the distance when I arrived and it’s very windy again. I hurried to set up camp and got into my tent, but the storm seems to have bypassed me as the worst was a few drops of rain. It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow though, it will be my first real rainy night and day so I’m hoping the tent and my rain gear are up for it.