I was at the front of the line as we walked through a small gap among large boulders, then turned onto a steep, snow-covered slope.
We had only crossed 20 yards or so of this sketchy section when Tengo slipped and fell a short distance off the trail. His water bottle tumbled down the slope, never to be seen again. While trying to prevent himself from following it down the mountain, he broke his trekking pole.
When I saw this I called for a retreat. We had done enough risk-taking for the day.
I suggested we turn around and go back to where the boulders were. We should be able to find enough spots to pitch our tents, I said. No one disagreed.
Sherbet and MJ set up their tents almost directly on the trail. Tengo and I backtracked a little farther to a spot I had seen earlier, which was a narrow, almost flat shelf.
It was a tight squeeze for our tents among rocks and trees, but we made it work.
In fact, we made the whole day work, another challenging but rewarding day.