The next morning looked exactly as it had from 3:00-9:00 o’clock the previous day. I cooked oatmeal and then packed up camp and left at around 7:15. Before I had hiked 30 minutes, the sun came out to stay and the remainder of the hike was a pleasant, downhill stroll through dappled sunshine. I passed a couple of groups on the way down near the trailhead, one with lamas, and reached my car by around 11.  Immediately I changed into my sandals and cooled my feet down. 

Instead of taking Hwy 14 back to Fort Collins, I drove north on the Laramie River Road into Wyoming, stopping several times to look back to the SW at the jagged jumble of rock I had just explored for the past 5 days. I could pick out the bowls where each Rawah Lake resides, and the ridge above Iceburg Lake where I had scampered about among the alpine wildflowers. My trip to the inner reaches of the Rawah Wilderness had been a goal for many years while I lived in Colorado. It took moving away from the state to jump-start me into finally doing it. As I write this, reflecting on those warm summer days from the depths of a cold December, I pine for the sun to return north and warm the hills so I can go visit them again.