I went to bed with an excruciatingly painful knee. My hope was that by morning it would be manageable enough that I would barely notice it. Unfortunately every time I woke up in the middle of the night, adjusting my leg position also shot sharp pains through the side of my leg. I knew I would make it back to the truck, because there was no other option, but I would be lying to say the situation didn't give me anxiety.
Setting up tents on what was essentially a grass field with little cover is a recipe for a lot of moister inside your tent when you wake up. Inexplicably, when we woke up on Sunday our tents were dry. However, there was a faint drizzle tapping our rain flies. The skies were already gray and it was only 6am. It felt like our luck with the weather may have run its course. It took little convincing for everyone to get up and packed before the real rain came. As luck would have it, that rain never did come but our day started early none the less.
By taking an alternative route, our final day would not take us over the "official" 4th pass on the 4 Pass Loop, Frigid Air Pass. Instead we followed a barely-used trail into the Hasley Basin, where we set up camp, meaning we would climb over Hasley Pass. The view of the basin in the morning light provided, arguably, the most stunning views of the entire weekend. While the climb was a little shorter and the millage would be marginally different, I don't think anyone regretted the decision.
In light of the apparently bad weather and the issue with my knee, I packed my camera and decided that my focus for the day would be to make it out of the woods without causing any real delays to the group. Halfway up Hasley pass, the sun had come out, the views were spectacular, and while the knee pain was heavy, I realized that it wasn't likely to get much worse. I stopped and pulled the camera out to capture the final day of an amazing weekend. I'm glad I did.
The first kisses of sunlight hitting the pass of Hasley Basin
From the top of Hasley Pass, the basin in its entirety came into stunning view.
The final pass of the day, it was all down hill to the truck.
The hike after Hasley Basin was mostly a sprawling open view painted by lush green grass and stunning blooms of wildflowers.
By far the two most capable hikers in the group
Just off the trail.
The drive in and out of the trail head were stunning in their own right.
