6/11/2008, The Ice Age Arrives, Day 7

A nasty storm came in during the night. I really was sure that the tent was going to be ripped apart. No joke. It was the first night that we didn't sleep well because of the noise of the wind ripping at the tent, as well as the cold (even sleeping with layers of clothes on). Even the train horns at our first bivy didn't disturb us as much.



When morning came, we peeked out of our tent (which was still intact) to see about 2-3" of snow on the ground. And ice. And it was definitely below freezing. Although it was shortly after 6 am, we quickly decided to bail. Enough of this!






We were home by 6:30. It was gorgeous in Boulder.

While the weather blew the entire trip, we had a great time. Lots of laughing in the tent, huddling in the car, climbing and hiking. One of the funniest moments was that on the warmest day, I pulled a beer out of the ice chest and for the first time, it felt cold. Finally, the temperature in the chest was colder than the temperature out of the ice chest. The cold also made for economically ice usage. We purchased a block of ice in Boulder before leaving to put in Dave's 1980s not-so-efficient ice chest. When we got home, the ice was hardly melted! He said usually, they last only two days!