To add one more delay, we inadvertently got off the trail and hiked up the side of a hill. Following an animal trail and drainage, it initially looked like we were on the correct path. It didn't take too long to figure out what had happened, but any delay at this point was not working in our favor. Here I am back on the main trail.
As the light faded I started paying particular attention to the dry creek bed. I knew that if we were going to stop short of Cora Lake, we'd need water. As we reached a trail intersection called "The Niche," I asked Andra to stop. I told Andra and Dave I thought we should make camp here and use the few water pools in the area. Trying to hike on meant traveling in the dark. We already had gotten off the trail in the daylight, we had a less than useful GPS, weren't familiar with the area, and it was getting cold. All of that just sounded like trouble and my little voice started talking to me. They agreed and we stopped and setup camp.
This is a picture of our camp the next morning. To be honest, the water in the pools was less than inspirational. We filtered it with our intake at about 50% depth. The upper section of the water looked like a parking lot puddle near a Jiffy Lube. Fortunately, I carry an excellent water purifier.
By the time we setup camp, cooked and ate, it was after 8pm. Had we hiked on, we wouldn't have had dinner until at least 10:30pm. That's assuming we didn't injure ourselves in the dark or get lost. Good trips start and end with good decisions. Nothing creates heartache and danger more than trying to bite off more than you can chew.
After breaking down camp we headed on to Cora Lake. This lake was supposed to be night one, with our second night at Saddler Lake. Since The Niche is not far from Cora Lake, we decided to only stop here for lunch and hike through to Saddler. That would put us back on schedule and keep trail mileages on future days from getting out of hand. You must remember that on each of these trips, I leave a detailed itinerary with a friend. Should we not contact him at the designated time, he is instructed to contact local emergency personnel. Coming out a day late due to poor planning, and being greeted by search and rescue teams, is not what anyone wants. To prevent this, all of our trips have extra time built into the schedule. Not only does this keep false alarms to a minimum, it allows you to have delays without having to kill yourself speed walking your way out.
We're still getting a mixed bag of clouds, but no rain. The last update I got from the weather service showed rain Saturday and it's only Thursday. Still, the heavy clouds get you wondering if they have it right.