This is it -- our LAST DAY on the trail! :-(

And it would likely be the HARDEST day, too. We were up and packing by 4:30 am, and hiking by headlamp on the trail by 5:21. Most of us were carrying two gallons of water -- 16 pounds -- since we wouldn't see a drop until we get to base camp, and it will be a long, dry hike over Tooth Ridge.

We were on top of Schaefer's Peak by 6:58 am, where we enjoyed breakfast with a magnificent view. The next two hours involved navigating huge boulder fields -- not many photos of that section, since I had to fasten up the camera case to prevent the camera from falling out during the gymnastic moves required for hiking boulders.

But at 8:58 a.m., we made it to the base of the Tooth of Time. There we took off our packs and brought up some water for the final assault: THE TOP OF THE TOOTH OF TIME! We spent a good amount of time up there, taking lots of pictures and enjoying the 360-degree views, our last spectacular views of 12 days of great beauty of God's creation.

After the Tooth of Time, we soon hit the "Trail of Tears," the never-ending switchbacks on the way down to base camp. Matt Blake counted no less than TWENTY NINE (29) different switchbacks! But thanks to all those turns, our knees were spared the jarring of steep downhills.

Walking into the gates of base camp at 1:58 pm brought mixed feelings. We were sad to be leaving the freedom of the great wilderness and getting back into a schedule grind of logistics. On the other hand, a hot shower and clean laundry never felt better! Not to mention the snack bar and cafeteria. After the closing campfire, it was no problem at all getting to bed very early -- on our nice, flat, cushy bunks.

(Total distance: 13.20 miles)

Here are a some photos I took with my new Canon 70D camera.

- Tom Arneberg (toma@arneberg.com)        

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