The hike was advertised as Mitchell to Celo and back, a 14 mile roundtrip. Between Mitchell and Celo are bunch of menacing peaks topping 6000'. And the trail is muddy. Several spots were so steep and slick they had ropes, so you could descend and ascend the proverbial slippery slope.
We all cached water on the hike out. I was glad to do, having almost 6 liters with me. With no need to conserve water, I drank like a fish all day. Dana and the big dogs moved out ahead and waited for the rest of us to catch up every so often. About a mile from Celo we all congregated for the last time, ate lunch and decided who was going on to Celo and who was headed back. During this lunchstop, the sun broke through the mist and clouds and briefly brought us the days only sunshine.
Walking back, we had the pleasure of ascending Potato Hill from Low Gap. Estimates of 4 to 6 false tops are in order for the trek up this tater tot. Each summit felt so good to attain. Then some smartass would remind us how many more we had to go.
We played hide and seek with the rain just reaching the confines of the visitors center before the rains came. The wait was about 2 hours for everyone to finish up. The thermometer read 67. That may have been close to the high for the hike.
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