Woke up to a cool, damp, overcast morning. Most of today’s miles were going to be above treeline between 12,200 and 12,900’.

There was a giant bull moose grazing around this pond (his girlfriend is in the willows to the left). I saw a total of 5 moose today !

Not sure the name of this peak, but it seem to be glowing on the horizon.

A big fat yellow marmot.

Most of the day looked like this with occasional mist, spit or light rain. The sun popped out for a brief appearance a couple times as well.

One of the more elaborate cairns marking the trail.

This is how I roll when the rain picks up…luckily it wasn’t windy.

The mighty San Juan’s.

I might need to get some lamas to carry my stuff next time 😉

The trail is just about to turn and drop into the Elk Creek gorge before it joins the Animas River.

Still some wildflowers hanging on.

One last marmot pic.

An impressive bit of trail construction through the gorge.

After several thousand feet of descending there was a perfect campsite next to a pond…there are even three deer feeding on the far side.