Miles: 27 Steps: 55,618 Vertical gain: 5,448 feet Liquid consumed: 100 oz. Wildlife: squirrels, birds, rabbit Faith in Humanity: I saw 3 people! Very briefly, but all 3 were quite pleasant. Thanks for having your dog on a leash! I was worried it was going to be freezing cold and rain all day, but I really only got 40 minutes of rain and it wasn’t so bad at all. Forecast is horrid for the next two days though, but I’m prepared. We shall see what the future holds. The Rainbow Trail is almost entirely between 8,500 and 9,500 feet. It just slowly moved from one drainage to the next. Moderate downhill to a stream, moderate uphill out of the drainage. Repeat repeat repeat. I quite enjoy it really. Sure there’s not really mountain summits or high alpine exploration, but I love walking in the woods. The Rainbow Trail is Almost Appalachian Trail style, though less steep, allows motorized devices and you can still see the high alpine mountains all the time to the West. Haha, so not like it at all? I really want to come back and explore here more though! The trail crosses soooo many other trails that go up in elevation and to alpine lakes and peaks. Not the purpose of my current journey though, so Rainbow Trail I go. Much easier progress today without the crazy burn area of yesterday! Very chilly today. Hiked almost the entire day with 2 layers on top which is a first for the trip. I didn’t see anyone at all and really thought I’d go 2 full days without interacting with others. But then there was a crowd!!!! One woman and her dog, then maybe a couple hundred yards past her were two young ladies. I interacted pleasantly with all 3 though no one seemed to want to chat for long. Nice to see people out using the trails. I really thought I’d see more motorized vehicles since they can cover ground so quickly but have only seen 1 dirt bike rider 2 days ago. Weird... there are a bunch of houses near the trail too...what do most people have to work and can’t just hike all day like me? Oh.., Supposed to be very rainy the next two days with higher elevations getting significant snowfall. My high point will only be a bit over 10,000 feet though which may mean super cold rain which isn’t ideal, but might be better than a foot of snow, although I do love snow sometimes. Camped near a stream tonight. Lots of dead trees around but I think I’m somewhere they can’t get me. Excited for tomorrow, even if it means hiking in lots of rain.