Monday April 15

Didn't rain too much last night...out of camp at 9am..foggy and wet.
UV, whole bean, their dog mazy  were at the campsite with us last night. Lesson of the day yesterday was"always test new equipment while still at the hotel! The new  6 L platypus is a "big zip"..has a huge zip lock contraption along the top..like a giant ziplock bag with carrying handles...once it's UN zipped, it's a real pain in the butt to get it closed...every time I think I've got it shut, it sneaks open again...it's a good thing goat have me his 2L that is much easier to manage with the filter attached than an unzipped 6 L...the 6 L is great for one trip to the water source, though!
     Today was Up and over Unocoa mountain..through a thick spruce forest..nice pics below. we left late and stopped often for photo ops and for a little  breathing..lots of climbing today. Lots of blood root blooming and something else that looks a little like lady slippers..lots of little blossoms dangling off of one lateral stem (see pics) another one I keep seeing has a single yellow flower..the petals turn up, leaving the reproductive system hanging down toward the ground...comes up from a single speckled leaf.
God continues to take care of me: when I couldn't walk anymore and prayed for the shelter to be the next thing I saw, I crested a hill and saw a man in a blue shirt sitting and having lunch..and I thought "well that wasn't on my wish list"..so I go over to talk to him and what do you know...he's sitting by the sign for the shelter..it was too far for him to walk  0.2 miles to the shelter to eat lunch, so he just sat down by the sign....
Tomorrow it's up and over roan mtn..14.7
Pics:  magical spruce Forest ; wild
Flowers...anybody know what they are?