Crocker Mountains

We got back to the trailhead in the early afternoon, where there was a map showing the northbound trail. I took advantage of it to shoot an instructional video explaining some of the terrain terminology I've used, which might be unusual to those of you who don't hike or live near mountains and can be hard to visualize on a two-dimensional, flat map. I used some primitive tools as an analogy: my hand and a Sharpie, and drew some lines to represent the contour lines on a map. 😆 Flat, my hand isn't very helpful. However, if you look at my fist, you can imagine that the knuckles on my hand are mountain peaks. The depressions between the peaks are saddles, or what on the Trail I refer to as "gaps." Campsites or trailheads (parking lots or access to roadways) are often located in those gaps. The gaps are so deep and steep in this range that they call them "notches" here. I hope this is helpful in clarifying some of the geographical references I make in the blog from time to time. I wonder how long it will take for the Sharpie to wear off...

Stormy weather continued off and on all afternoon. We hiked about 5 miles up the Trail to the 4,000-foot Crocker Mountains, and decided to make camp in the gap between the North and South Peaks (the green summit symbols on the map below) at about 8:15 p.m. 

We got dinner and settled in the hammocks as quickly as possible, with lightning and thunder all around us. It's supposed to finally begin to clear in the morning. I'll be so glad to have better weather and actually be able to see farther than the peak we are standing on.