It was the last day of our little trek. After a night of little sleep and lots of Kovas’ snoring, we all woke up at the buttcrack of dawn to pack up. I was psyched. It was crappy diner food time. Day one had been an ordeal. Day two was less so. Day three was our shortest day. Nothing could go wrong on this day, right?
Wrong.
After a slightly disastrous yesterday in the Uintas, the whole hiking crew decided to alter trip plans once again. We were going to start the hike out and camp at a lake off a side trail. It was three miles from our current location to the destination. What could go wrong?
What can happen when you throw six internet friends on a backpacking trip prior to the biggest outdoor tradeshow of the year? A lot apparently. #UintasHike16 was born as a pre-show gear testing and hang out opportunity to experience the Utah backcountry. 40+ miles through the Wasatch over three days was going to be an adventure.
I was too slow. I was too fat. Maybe my pack was too heavy. I shouldn’t have gone to the gym yesterday. Did I really need to bring my DSLR and tripod? Why couldn’t I keep up? What if he didn’t want to ever go on climbing adventures with me again? My trekking pole got stuck in a crevice. I yanked it out and subsequently knocked the handle into my eye. That was the final straw that broke the frustrated camel’s back. I tried to stop it, but one sniffle led to another. Then I was suddenly bawling on the last half mile section to our campsite for the night.
It’ll be easy, I said. It’s only a few pitches of 5.6, I said. We’ll be in and out with tons of time to frolick and lounge, I said. That’s how I talked my friend, Joe, into spontaneously driving to Tuolumne Meadows with Josh and I to climb Cathedral Peak with us one June weekend.
