Lake Aloha to Dick's Lake- 9 miles
Hammock Guy stopped by in the morning to see if we wanted to hike with him to figure out how to get out of there but we take too long to pack up so we waved him on. It was very nice of him to offer though.
We studied the map and figured we needed to stay between the Lake Aloha shoreline and a little body of water called Lake Le Conte. We navigated around the obstacles and found the trail on the other side within about half an hour.
We were walking along and a dude passes us and says "Happy Trails!" I turn and look and it's the guy we met on the first day eating Mike & Ike's under the shade tree. Happy Trails! Hey, I remember you! He's going counter clockwise and is getting off trail at Echo Lake. He's tired and needs a rest.
Good thing we didn't push on to Heather Lake last night because there was no place to camp there. It was all lake and steep granite.
Now we get to the part where we start climbing to go up Dick's pass. Dick's is at elevation 9380 feet. It's only about a 1400 foot climb from where we are but we get hit with multiple rounds of thunder/lightning/hail/pouring rain as we head up. We don rain gear and hide under a grove of trees for about an hour waiting for the first lightning rounds to pass. A couple of hikers walk by wrapped in their tents.
We start up again. Slow, slow, slooow. Everything is slower in the pelting rain. This turns into the slowest climb of my life. We pull over again and wait under a grove of trees for lightning to pass. This storm is very freaking scary. We get to the lip of the mountain where we think the pass tops out and, psych! Nope, gotta go a few more switchbacks. I keep looking back to make sure Nancy is with me. FINALLY, make it to the top. I scream into the wind, "Suck it, Dick's Pass!!!" And then we are out and over the top and out of the rain and going down, down, down. I rate that as one of my top five most horrible hiking days ever.
We make it to Dick's Lake and set up camp in a sweet spot. I have no water left so I go filter down at the lake. I make my dinner of Packit Gourmet Chicken and Dumplings and eat it in 9 seconds flat. I feel surprisingly good after such a gnarly day.
Photos can be found on my Instagram @tinahikes
Author of Lola Hikes the Icy Mountain
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