I am looking out and it is pouring rain, not just a little, pouring! Just like yesterday morning except today we have to walk since yesterday we took the morning off. It is pouring.

 It is 630am. I am grateful that I am looking through a window and not through the door of my tent, my clothes are dry, I have slept in a bed, 4th night since March 9th. So how terrible can a little rain be. We only have 13 miles to walk and because of Barry's wonderful trail magic we will be slack packing again. It is still raining...a lot. 

Despite my stalling tactics we are at breakfast; 2 eggs, bacon, toast, waffles, oj and coffee, that should help make the walk easier, it's still raining pretty hard. At the trail head that we arrived at 2 days ago, Barry says good bye and we assure him we will be at the meeting point in about 5 hours and we set off. The rain is incessant, no let up but thankfully not what I would call torrential. 

When it is raining like this you look at your feet and about 2 feet head to make sure you don't fall on your face. I am focused on getting into a rhythm but the path is pretty much a stream so I try a different tactic. I think that if I create a mantra it will help with my feels about the rain and make the time pass more quickly. "Be one with the rain, be one with the rain, be one with the rain..." Ok that's not working. We come to a point in the path where there is a steep staircase of big rocks down towards the river and the path ahead has blue blazes. We know that blue blazes is not what we want but there are no white blazes on the steep path down. Eveready heads down a little way and comes up confirming no white blazes. There was a guy ahead of us and he went straight following the blue blazes. You have to understand that thru-walkers can create almost any reason not to go down a steep set of stairs unless it is absolutely necessary. So against our better instincts we go straight ahead and follow the guy.  A couple of hundred metres on we see him coming back towards us he says "I'm on a blue blaze trail that can't be right". (Oh man, moaned the children!) We begin to explain about the awkward unmarked intersection which he never saw. His name is Happy (I moan, remember it's still raining with some authority). We go down the stairs and sure enough there is a white blaze but not where anyone would easily see it.

We are on the path that has taken us down to a quite substantial river with a spectacular waterfall. We can see that this would be much more enjoyable on a sunny warm day but non-the-less it is impressive. We have an exciting moment of following the path around a rocky ledge which hangs over the river, then we press on. Suddenly we meet a guy who when he turns around, I think he is Father Christmas, he must be mid 70's, long white hair and beard. He could have been, this is his off peak season and walking is probably something that he could benefit from. The guy introduces himself as Moaner Boner, really!!! He goes on to explain that his real surname is Mehboner and he figured he would be moaning a lot on the trail hence, well you get it (not really sure he did).

I'm trying the mantra again to see if I can be one with the rain but really all I can think about is how nice it would be to be a reptile. No worries mate if it is cold or wet, just go with it. I am back at the problem of transition, all temperature transitions for humans suck. From warm sleeping bag to wet cold walking clothes, from dry clean clothes to wet soggy walking clothes, it's all a transition thing. Well, thankfully I am aided by getting through this transition because we are climbing. We need to climb up and over this mountain, about 2000 feet. You might recall that high-tech rain jacket I have that I call "the sauna". Well it is working extremely well. As soon as you begin to climb you get hot. These hi-tech 'breathing' jackets really don't live up to their reputation.

Within 20 minutes the sauna now has me as wet on the inside of my jacket as the rain has me on the outside. Wow, I'm thrilled because I'm through the transition. It is a bit of a slog up this mountain and I am thinking well now that I'm just as wet inside as out I really don't need the burden of all these clothes nor do I need to continue the charade of trying to stay dry, I'll just get rid of my clothes. You have time to ponder things when you walk. I was in the middle of assessing the merits of this idea when I hear some voices coming towards me and there is 19 year old Car Bomb and No Hat with a couple of friends.  They are SoBo (south bound) slack packing and cheerfully ask if I would like a coke. Gratefully. They have packed a day pack with pop and are handing them out to all their fellow walkers going the other way, cool kids. Glad I was just in the contemplation phase of liberating myself of my clothes. Shortly after I meet Cookie Monster also SoBo slack packing, he has his own mantra, F**k the rain, f**k the rain...

The top of the mountain is only a quarter hour away, the air is crystal clear and it is almost like all the colours are super amplified. It is only drizzling, for this I am happy. So when you are really wet hiking the rain runs down between you and you pack, soaking your shorts and threatening to flood your feet. I installed my gators as tightly as I dared lest my feet fall off from lack of circulation, but you know water has a way of getting in everywhere. The rain is streaming down my legs and slowly seeping into my boots. "be one with the rain, be one with the rain..."

I can see the lake, the dam is on the far side, it is a long way down, but the rain has abated slightly, no pack weight so flying down that hill. Then another reminder that there are bears in the area. We have a healthy respect for bears but secretly all thru-walkers want to see one. I am not taking any chances, I take out my phone and put on my Stan Rogers album on shuffle and maximum volume, you bear, enjoy Barrett's Privateers, Bluenose and Northwest Passage! Makes me smile. 

Coming down after 5 hours of fast walking and endless mind games I see our trail angel Barry. He has walked in from the road where he parked. Left gatorade, oranges and little cakes in the back of the truck for other hikers and has come to meet us. 

I am one with the rain.