Woke up this morning to a crust of ice inside my tent. Each gust of wind flapped the walls, causing ice to shower down onto my bag.

So I pulled out my trusty synthetic towel and wiped layers of rime from the tent's walls, shaking the towel's frozen contents out the door where the wind is still nasty. Somehow I find lying here in my cozy bag, snacking, making tea, and studying the map to be immensely more attractive than putting on my wet boots and packing up the snow-buried tent.

The transition is the worst. Once I start hiking it won't be so bad. I hope. I'm not far from the top of Piz Ursera (3,032m), and my route follows a rocky crest for one and a half kilometers before a trail appears (on the map) to take me down the Val Mera. I hear there's a forest down there and a beautiful lake, the Lagh da Saoseo. My, does that ever sound attractive right about now. But first I must climb outside this tent. Hmm, maybe just one more cup of tea will get me in the mood?

The citizens' meeting

The citizens' meeting