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| Pacheco Falls |
Date: March 15, 2025
Place: Henry W. Coe State Park, Morgan Hill, California
Coordinates (of Kelly Lake): 37.121952, -121.428315
Length: 8.6 miles round trip
Level: strenuous
When my friend and I went in the tent on the first night of our backpacking trip at Henry Coe State park last month we were both tired and relaxed. I'd love to say that we had a quiet and peaceful night but that was not the case. Our night was very noisy - starting with the evening shrill calls of the numerous red-winged blackbirds to which soon was added the loud chorus of the Kelly Lake resident frogs. Most of these frogs were of the Pacific chorus frog (a.k.a. Sierran tree frogs) species, but the calls of other species were mixed in between. A few mallards kept their voice up for a good part of the night - they were very loud and persistent, whatever their issue with each other was. To top all of that off, two great horned owls were having a conversation, hooting at each other over our tent. As noisy as it was, I'd take that any time over the noise of a nearby freeway or the sounds of other campers. There were no other human campers at Kelly Lake that night.
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| Early morning at Kelly Lake |
Our night wasn't peaceful either. My hip, which held up wonderfully throughout the night, was hurting really bad during the night. After taking some painkillers I managed to have a short, fitful sleep. My friend hasn't had it easier - she tossed and turned all night long. In the morning she said that she usually doesn't sleep well on the first backpacking night, but this time she didn't get any sleep at all. Considering all that, it was amazing how energetic and vigorous we both felt in the morning. I think the chill air had much to do with keeping us awake and alert.
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| Early morning at Kelly Lake |
I was first out of the tent. The lake was calm, with only a few ripples shimmering the beautiful reflection of the trees on the opposite shore.
We were the only campers within sight. From a distance, our little tent looked like an alien blimp on the serene natural setting. The air was very moist, and my shoes got wet from passing through vegetation. I was glad I brought my water-proof shoes to this trip.
The frogs were silent now, but the red-winged blackbirds started their morning concert at pre-dawn hours and kept at it for a long while.
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| Red-winged Blackbird, male |
When I returned from my little walk my friend was already outside of the tent. We filled our water bottles and sat down to cook and eat breakfast. We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise, and a promise of a gorgeous day ahead.
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| Kelly Lake |
As soon as the sun was up the coots started having skirmishes with one another. It was amusing to see these feisty little birds chasing each other, half flying, half running on the water. The winner coots also mooned the other coots, flashing those two white spots below their tails. The more docile coots had the tails down.
After breakfast we prepared for our day's hike to Pacheco Falls and back. Walking would be easier now, because we were leaving our camping gear at the campsite, taking only food and water for the day. I brought along also my little stove because a hot lunch and some tea seemed very appealing to me in the chilly morning.
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| Our hike as captured by my GPS |
We started north on Coit Road, on a moderate uphill grade. The clouds came and went, but didn't gather into anything that would imply rain.
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| Coit Road |
Spring was in full force here. All along the trail were many wildflowers - it was the peak of the first wave of spring bloom.
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| Lacy Parsnip, Lomatium dasycarpum |
One of the most common wildflower species in bloom, and certainly the most conspicuous one, was the shooting star. There were e so many variations of this beautiful plant that I was sure there were more than a single species blooming there. As it turned out, they were all variants of the Padre's shooting star species.
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| Padre's Shooting Star, Primula clevelandii |
In the flooded areas below the trail bloomed what I thought at first was a mustard, but as I got closer I realized it was a California native plant of the mustard family.
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| American Yellowrocket, Barbarea orthoceras |
There was much runoff on the trail. Not as much as we saw yesterday while it was raining, but certainly enough to watch where we were stepping and not to have to worry about water. Today to I was carrying less than one liter at a time, assured that I could stop and refill frequently enough.
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| Coit Road |
A bush covered in bright red flowers was near the trail and I stopped to give it my due attention. My froend joined me in appreciation of this beautiful gooseberry bush.
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| Fuchsiaflower Gooseberry, Ribes speciosum |
A large buckbrush bush, similar to the one next to our campsite at Kelly Lake, was also blooming along the trail. Its fragrance was pretty mild, to my surprise. The aroma of these bushes when blooming is usually very intense.
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| Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus |
A small group of sparrows were pecking at the dirt on the trail a bit ahead of us. They quickly dispersed as we approached.
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| White-crowned Sparrow |
We reached a low saddle between a couple of peaks. At the saddle was a four-way trail junction and my friend pointed out to me where we would have come from had we taken the originally planned trail rather than going up the Grizzly Gulch Trail. We now continued straight on Coit Road, which was leading us downhill to Coit Lake.
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| Coit Road |
There was a large patch of shooting star flowers on the upslope side of the trail. The flowers in this patch were all dark pink except one white individual with only a hint of pink, which instantly caught my eye.
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| Padre's Shooting Star, Primula clevelandii |
Soon Coit Lake came into view below us. We couldn't see the entire lake from that point, though. Coit Lake is larger than Kelly Lake, but most of it was around the curve of the hill, and blocked from our view. Neither of us needed to fill up on water at that time, so we continued walking past the lake.
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| Coit Lake |
For some distance past Coit Lake the trail was conveniently level. We walked on the side of a narrow meadow along a small creek. The rotten remains of a cattle corral was on the hill side of the trail, a decaying evidence of the ranch past of this park.
The surrounding hills looked round and docile, not showing any of the steep rises and the deep gulches that Henry W Coe Park is rich with. The hills were covered with oak savanna, showing more savanna at the bottom and more oaks at the top.
There were more wildflowers there too. I saw small patches of the Johhnytuck, like little purplish-yellow islands in the green grass.
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| Johhnytuck, Triphysaria eriantha |
My friend saw movement in the grass across the creek and called my attention to it. It was a California ground squirrel, one of the many individuals whose burrows holed the entire area, turning the meadow and hillside into a huge underground rodent town.
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| California Ground Squirrel |
The short level part of the trail soon ended and once again we started going uphill, although at a milder grade at first. We came by another, smaller reservoir which was called the Fish and Game Pond. I assumed there were fish in it, but we didn't get close to see if that was the case. Both of us had water still, so we continued on walking up the trail.
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| Fish and Game Pond |
One of the most common wildflowers in the open hills of California is the fiddleneck. In the Bay Area the most common one is the common fiddleneck. This plant, named so because of the spiral curl of its inflorescence, can be found in such an abundance that it paints entire slopes in orange when in bloom. At the time of our hike the fiddlenecks were just beginning to bloom so there were no carpets of them yet, only early blooming individuals here and there.
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| Common Fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii |
The trail steepened. It was basically a dirt road, built for mule-driven wagons and other ranch vehicles so it never got too steep. Still, it was a good workout.
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| Coit Road |
We soon gained enough altitude to have a nice view of the ridges to the east. Despite the recent rain the visibility to the east was poor. It looked cloudy and foggy there, where it was possibly raining still.
We paused briefly at the top of the ridge to admire the view, to drink and snack some, and the wildflowers and to consult the map.
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| Foothill Desert Parsley, Lomatium utriculatum |
Our next leg was a short mild walk on Wagon Road, from which we would turn to the trail leading to Pacheco Falls. For this stretch, Wagon Road followed the ridgeline, so we enjoyed both tye grand views and the high winds that came at us in gusts.
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| Wagon Road |
One particular peak on the southeast had a distinct shape. I kept looking at it but I couldn't figure out on the map which mountain that was, nor even if it was within the park's boundaries.
The view northeast was lovely also. I enjoyed seeing all that expanse, and all of it nature. No cities were in view, not even ranches. It was great, felt like true wilderness.
Most of the oak trees in the higher parts of the park were deciduous, and winter-bare still, but some of them were already budding out in young, light green foliage. The oaks that were early enogh were already blooming too.
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| Valley Oak, Quercus lobata |
At the higher elevations of the park there were also many pine trees, all of them of the California native Coulter pine species. The Coulter pine is not a large tree, but it does hold the record for the heaviest cones and, in my personal opinion, also of the tastiest pinenuts.
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| Coulter Pine Cone |
We passed a trail junction that confused us a bit because the trails named on it were not labeled on our maps. Eventually though, we figured out which was the right trail for us to take, which was the Live Oak Springs Trail.
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| Live Oak Spring Trail |
I haven't seen live oaks on this trail yet, but poison oak was plentiful alongside. The poison oak was also just coming out of winter hibernation and looked very lovely with its young red foliage. Thankfully, the trail was wide enough so we didn't have to come in physical contact with this plant.
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| Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum |
There were many goldenbush shrubs along the low side of the trail but only one of them was blooming, and even that bush was only at its season's beginning.
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| Narrowleaf Goldenbush, ricameria lineaifolia |
Another common wildflower we were seeing on this trip was the hound's tongue. Most of the hound's tongue plants we saw were at the beginning of their bloom - I could tell that by the blue color of their flowers. After getting pollinated these flowers turn pink. On the side of the Live Oak Springs Trail I found an individual with flowers of both colors.
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| Hound's Tongue, Adelinia grandis |
Another plant that blooms with very blue flowers is the blue witch nightshade. It too is a fairly early bloomer and on our trip we saw a number of very large blue witch bushes covered in lovely blue flowers.
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| Blue Witch Nightshade, Solanum umbeliferum |
Live Oak Springs Trail splits into a narrow loop with the upper arm leading to the springs and the lower arm leading to the junction with the Pacheco Falls. Naturally, we took the lower Live Oak Springs Trail.
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| Live Oak Springs Trail (lower arm) |
The upslope was more shaded and the wildflowers blooming on that side of the trail featured indeed more shade-loving plants, such as the delicate California saxifrage.
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| California Saxifrage, Micranthes californica |
My friend called me over to where she was standing - she saw caterpillars. There were many of them indeed, all of them feasting on fresh bee plant leaves. I remember seeing this before - a huge group of checkerspot caterpillars that were decimating an entire patch of bee pants, four years ago at the Purisima Creek Open Space Preserve.
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| Caterpillars of Variable Checkerspot butterfly feasting on a Bee Plant leaves |
We reached the trail junction with the Pacheco Falls Trail. This trail was an in-and-out one, dead-ending at the falls. It was dropping down at a steep grade, meaning we'd have to ascend that same slope going back Oh, well.
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| Pacheco Falls Trail |
It was great seeing the open view to the southeast - ridge after ridge of forested mountains and hills with deep gulches in between.
We were descending through a beautiful oak savanna with lovely oak trees all around, spaced with lush, green grass. Some of the oaks were already budding out.
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| Valey Oak, Quercus lobata |
Between the grasses were numerous little wildflowers. I was happy to find some California goldfields in bloom. They were just at the beginning though, not yet forming their signature carpets.
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| California Goldfields, Lasthenia californica |
The trail became steeper yet. Below us we saw a little, round pond. The reeds were growing inside the pond rather than on the edges, and we thought that this was because the pond was more full than usual after the recent rains.
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| Wood Duck Pond |
The trail descended down a sloping ridge, with a grand view and also with a steep drop on either side of the trail.
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| Pacheco Falls Trail |
I heard the sound of gashing water below on the north side of the trail so I stepped off to the side, careful nt to rub against the poison oak that grew abundantly there, and looked down into the gulch.
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| North Fork Pacheco Creek |
A beautiful and very loud cascading creek rushed down the gulch. My friend joined me and we watched the running water for a few minutes. This part of the creek was upstream of Pacheco Falls, which we could not see yet.
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| North Fork Pacheco Creek |
We kept seeing vultures all along our hike. At some point I stopped ignoring them and took some photos, but none of them turned out particularly good.
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| Turkey Vulture |
We reached wood duck pond. There were no wood ducks in the pond, nor any other waterfowl, as far as I could see. Not even mallards.
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| Wood Duck Pond |
I did go all the way to the water though, hoping to see some amphibians. I saw no newts or frogs, but I did see those bugs that walk on the water surface. The are always amusing to watch.
We continued down the trail, knowing the falls are not far away now. My friend trotted along but I paused still, because I was seeing more wildflowers along the trail.
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| Pacific Pea, Lathyrus vestitus |
Some of these flowers were so small that I had to stoop down deeply and use my maximal zoom to take a photo.
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| Slender Phlox, Microsteris gracilis |
My friend, who was well aware of my passion, called me over to another tiny wildflower that she had found. Red Maids are more commonly found in large patches, growing in grassy areas, but this one here was alone and it was growing in a dry, gravelly spot in the middle of the trail. Perhaps that's why it was so small and sported only a single flower.
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| Red Maids, Calandrinia menziesii |
We reached Pacheco Creek and the bottom of Pacheco Falls. It looked beautiful, but not quite what I expected to see after viewing the photos of the falls. I realized we must have missed the waterfall overlook offshoot trail.
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| Pacheco Falls |
On a warmer day we might have included a dip in the pool to our hike, but despite the bright sunshine, the day was cool and windy. Still, it was our plan to have our lunch break there, right by the falls.
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| Pacheco Creek, downstream of the waterfalls |
Our plan to sit right by the pool were altered when we realized there was poison oak growing everywhere between the rocks there. The creek was running high, leaving very little space to sit on anyway. We filled up on water, I took a quick shot of the milkmaids flowers that were blooming there, and we climbed back a little, sitting down to have our lunch a bit higher on the trail, but still within view of the waterfall.
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| Milkmaids, Cardamine californica |
We had a nice, long lunch break within eye- and ear-shot of Pacheco Falls. I was happy t have taken my little stove with me so I enjoyed a warm soup and then made tea for both of us. I also had the time to check out the nearby wildflowers more closely.
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| Rusty Popcornflower, Plagiobothrys nothofulvus |
When we started ascending, I told my friend that I wanted to find the falls overlook trail. We found it - an unmarked, very narrow little trail that unless looked for actively would be easily missed. The trail run along a dry, south facing rocky slope, and the plants growing there were quite different than those we saw until then,
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| Chile Trefoil, Acmispon wrangelianus |
One of these plants was the bird foot cliffbrake fern, one of the two local fern species that are radiation and drought resistant and thrive in exposed, dry places.
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| Bird's Foot Cliffbrake, Pellaea mucronata |
My friend passed me when I stooped down to take some wildflower photos. She was dubious about the overview trail, but then I heard her call me with excitement - she had reached the view point.
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| Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor |
I joined my friend at the edge of the cliff, looked down, and gasped. There they were - Pacheco Falls, running high, in their full glory!
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| Pacheco Falls |
The view point was on a very narrow cliff edge. My friend was lying down on her stomach, peering down from the lip of the cliff. I lied down beside her, and then got up again - I couldn't see the entire waterfall system from that point. I carefully edged down the cliff, looking for a better view point.
Last summer, on the Forth of July weekend I went with Pappa Quail on a trip to the south part of the Sierra Nevada, to explore the area of Sherman Pass. The hike I wanted to do most of all was that of the Seven Teacups trail, to a waterfall system of ledge pools filled by connecting waterfalls (similar to the Bear Canyon Seven Falls near Tucson, AZ). We didn't hike that trail because of the intense heat wave that boiled California that weekend and I was very disappointed about that. Now, as I was looking down at Pacheco Falls, I breathed deeply, feeling my hart leaping and my spirit floating. I was very glad that we had found the overview trail and got to see these falls in their full glory.
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| Pacheco Falls |
After taking numerous photos I returned to where my friend was and she pointed out to me a large manzanita bush hanging from a cliff on the other side of the creek, above the highest pool. She was amazed at how well this bush was growing in such a tight place. I agree with her - that is pretty amazing.
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| Manzanita, Arctostaphylos sp. |
After a good long time of viewing the waterfall from above, it was time to get up and resume hiking back to our camp. Just before reconnecting back with the main Pacheco Falls Trail I noticed a hound's tongue plant that was nearly done blooming. Its developing fruit was prickly, looking like a quadruple pincushion.
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| Hound's Tongue, Adelinia grandis, developing fruit |
We walked quickly up the trail and soon we were near the Wood Duck Pond again. I looked at the water but no duck had landed there while we were at the falls.
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| Wood Duck Pond |
Naturally, the soil near the pond was more damp than the trail itself. A sole, little mushroom poked out of the grass. It looked a bit old and wrinkly though.
There were also California buttercups blooming near the trail in the area of the pond. I always find it difficult to get good photos of these buttercups because of their sheen and lack of contrast within the flower. This time I got some nice photos of this pretty wildflower.
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The trail, which was actually a dirt road, was overgrown with grass. It looked like no vehicle was driven there in a long while.
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| Pacheco Falls Trail |
The protective grass that grew on the trail was a good hiding place for a tree frog. My friend saw the frog as it jumped away from the trail and I came over in time to take some photos of the pretty amphibian. I guess Wood Duck Pond was a good habitat after all.
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| Pacific Chorus Frog (a.k.a. Sierran Tree Frog) |
I noticed more wildflowers one our way up the trail. Among these wildflowers were the blue dicks, the genus of which was recently split off and its Latin name changed.
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| Blue Dicks, Dipterostemon capitatus |
Taking a moment to catch my breath I also took the time to sniff the blooming buckbrush near the trail, at the place where we vied the upper creek's cascade part. This Ceanothus bush was very fragrant, unlike the one we saw at the beginning of our day's hike. I didn't have to get near the bush to smell it which was good, because it was surrounded by many poison oak plant.
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| Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus |
The silvery lupines were also in full bloom, although not at their peak just yet. Their rich blue blossom candles dotting the green slopes.
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| Silvery Lupine, Lupinus albifrons |
We came back to the junction with the lower arm of the Live Oak Springs Trail and I suggested that we take it to the other way and return on the upper arm of the loop. My friend agreed - it wouldn't add much to the trail's over all length. I was glad, because we'd get to see a bit more variation, which included also some other wildflowers that I haven't seen yet on this trip.
Some manroot vines were climbing the trail side vegetation. The manroot is an early bloomer and the vines we saw were indeed in full bloom.
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| California Manroot, Marah fabacea |
We arrived quickly at the split of the upper arm of the Live Oak Springs Trail, and we turned onto it, going south. One thing that was different from the lower arm of the Live Oak Springs loop was the numerous buckeye trees that were growing along this trail. All of the buckeyes we saw there were already fully foliaged. When we got near one, I saw the inflorescence buds, teeny tiny still. Son these trees will be covered in gorgeous, fragrant bloom.
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| Live Oak Springs Trail (upper arm) |
Once again we had the grand mountain wilderness view form the trail. A large area of it was within the park's boundaries - something to consider next time I'd be looking for backpacking in the Bay Area.
There were more of the red Fuchsiaflower Gooseberry bushes blooming along the trail, but there was also a blooming chaparral gooseberry too. The chaparral gooseberry blooms earlier in the season, and most of these bushes that I've seen on this trip had already finished blooming and were developing fruit. This bush was late - it was in full bloom still. I didn't complain about it.
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| Chaparral Currant, Ribes malvaceum |
We came across a number of runoff brooks that crossed the trail and I expected that the Live Oak Springs would be similar. When we came to it however, we saw that there was a trough and a faucet constructed there. Above the trough was a large water tank where, we assumed, water was saved for later in the season when the springs dried out.
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| Live Oak Springs |
From the Live Oak Springs we continued until we met with the lower arm again and closed that little loop. There we turned right, walking up back to Wagon Road. A flash of blue caught my eye - it was a scrub jay, and it was kind enough to stay put for a few seconds while I took its photo.
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| California Scrub Jay |
While I knew most of the wildflowers blooming in Henry W Coe park, there were some that were new to me still. Or at least, some that I haven't noticed before when they were blooming. The osoberry was one of them.
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| Osoberry, Oemleria cerasiformis |
I've also seen large patches of lush miner's lettuce along the trail and I mentioned to my friend that they were edible. I made a point to pick some before getting to the campsite and supplement our dinner with some fresh salad.
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| Miner's Lettuce, Claytonia perfoliata |
When we reached Wagon Road we paused a bit to appreciate the view once again. The wind was up still and I wrapped myself in my jacket.
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| View Southeast |
The mountains on the north were a little lower and rounder than the mountains on the south. In neither direction I could detect any human settlements. As far as my eyes could see was vast wilderness.
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| View Northeast |
A covey of quail was near the trail and before I was able o raise my camera they took into the air and vanished in the brush. One male remained poised on an upper branch for a couple of seconds before diving too into the low vegetation. I managed to get a single photo only, and a very blurry one.
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| California Quail |
It was a short stretch on Wagon Rad before we were at Coit Road once again. We were done with most of the uphill part of today's hike.
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| Coit Road |
At the upper part of Coit Road was a large rock beside the trail. On our way up we noticed poppy plants growing in the cracks of this rock. The poppies were blooming, but the flowers were closed.
We hoped that they would be open on our way back but most of them weren't. One of the poppies was half-open and hat was enough for me to take a close up photo.
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| California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica |
We went down quickly and passed the Fish and Game Pond. Beyond the pond the little creek flowed lazily down to where the rotting remains of the cattle corral were, and beyond, to Coit Lake. We heard frogs in the creek and I went ver to see if I could see any. The frogs however, were very well hidden.
My friend pointed out a large brown scar in the green hill side across the narrow meadow. There were numerous holes in that brown scar, and little trail lines connecting them. This of course, was a colony of California ground squirrels. At the mouth of the biggest hole stood a large squirrel as a sentinel, keeping watch over the colony.
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| California Ground Squirrel Colony |
This time we did go down to Coit Lake - both of us needed to fill up on water. As we sat by the trail and filtered the water we collected I noticed a small bat in the lake and a man sitting in the boat. It was the first human we've seen on the trip. We both wondered how did the man bring a boat all the way here. The man was too far to ask.
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| Coit Lake |
A solitary coot was swimming between the tule clamps The coot didn't seem to be bothered by our presence there.
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| American Coot |
From Coit Lake it was a short and mild uphill walk back to the saddle with the four-way trail junction. I have looked at the wildflowers blooming there already on the way to the falls but I looked at them again now too, on the way back to our camp.
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| California Golden Violet, Viola pedunculata |
We continued straight ahead on Cit Road, which started sloping down once again. Now we were looking at the view to the southwest where the hills were much rounder and more thickly forested than the eastern side of the park.
My friend and I slowed down on the downhill road, traying to soften the impact of the downhill stride on our joints. We used the time to chat about many things that were on our minds, especially our children.
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| Coit Road |
As i mentioned above, the blue dicks plant was split off into two separate species. The one that was left with the Latin name Dichelostemma is now called Ookow. To be honest, I cannot tell the blue dicks and the ookow from one another by eyesight only. In this case, the identification was don by the iNaturalist algorithm.
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| Ookow, Dichelostemma congestum |
Coming around the curve we had a great view of the deep gulch below us and the shiny strip of water that was the creek flowing at the bottom.
The afternoon sun was very bright indeed. I especially loved the effect it had on the young foliage of the buckeye trees.
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| California Buckeye, Aesculus californica |
When we approached Kelly Lake I picked some miner's lettuce leaves for dinner. I also identified a coyote mint plant. It wasn't blooming yet but I was still happy to see it - I picked a couple of sprigs to steep for a hot infusion later. I also got that day's best shot of the baby blue eyes flowers.
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| Baby Blue Eyes, Nemophila menziesii |
We were both happy and satisfied when we got to our camp. We were pretty tired too - neither of us got a good night sleep on the previous night and we hoped to sleep better tonight. We were also pretty hungry so right away we got busy making dinner. At the time we saw a solitary backpacker coming down the trail we arrived from yesterday and wondered if he'll try to set up camp next to us. He didn't though, and we watched him continue walking up Coit Road toward Coit Lake.
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| Kelly Lake |
As we ate our dinner and the the day slowly waned the red-winged blackbirds raised the volume of their calls by a few notches. A group of them settled on the bare tree above our tent and continued calling loudly from there. They kept flying in and out of that tree, untill eventually deciding to roost somewhere else fr the night.
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| Red-winged Blackbirds |
As the daylight faded we sat and watched the lake turning dark. Coots were swimming to and fro, and their wakes shone in the twilight.
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| Kelly Lake |
We sat quietly, mesmerized by the coots moving across the water when all of a sudden a duck came into view, swimming along the near shore. It wasn't a mallard but a male ruddy duck, in full breeding colors. The ruddy duck was quiet, something I cannot say about the mallards who were calling loudly to one another.
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| Ruddy Duck, male |
The daylight slowly faded. The night choir of blackbirds, mallards, and and frogs was increasing its complexity and volume every minute and to them was added the sound of a passing airplane - the not in place sound of human civilization. My friend and I got ready for sleep. I was first in the tent and just before my friend joined me she noticed two flashlights coming down the trail across the lake. I poked my head outside the tent and saw them too. The lights posed, as if in doubt. By the time my friend was done with here night routine and came into the tent these lights were gone. There were no sounds or sights of any human activity other than ours by Kelly Lake so we could only guess that these new visitors turned around and went back uphill where they had descended from.
We didn't spend a long time chatting this evening. Tired from the day's hike and from last night's sleep deprivation we tucked ourselves right away in the sleeping bags. I did notice that this night was much colder than the previous one and I hoped that it would help me sleep better. On the morrow we would have a long hike out, carrying heavy backpacks once more.
