Looking down the south basin...

Looking down the south basin of Gardner (the basin southeast of Pt. 8487). That's not snow, that's fresh hail. There is a climber's trail that winds its way back and forth up this scree slope, but, after the lightning strike moments before, I didn't use it. Nope. It was straight downhill for me. Interestingly, the hail aided my descent as it congealed the scree into a kind of slurry that took well to plunge-stepping. As I rapidly returned to my tent at Gardner Meadow with thunderclaps pealing, my thoughts often drew back to the party I had passed earlier. Had they still been on the summit of N. Gardner when the strike hit it? Would I have to mount a one-man search for survivors after all atmospheric activity had ended? I waited and I waited for their return to camp (they had camped near to me). Finally, they came back. Phew! They told me they were about 300 yards from the summit when the lightning bolt struck. They said they received mild shocks through their ice-axes. July 4, 1998.