Back on the trail.. the next section would take us through a wash area and eventually to Wasp Canyon Aid station at 13miles. It had rained and snowed on Thursday and Friday, so the washed out area was still frozen from the cold night temperatures. Because the loose gravelly stuff was frozen it was much easier to run through.
Wayne and I kept a good pace through this section because it was rather flat, and I was beginning to tire of the flat and hoping we would be returning to some hills soon. Wayne assured me the hills would return soon. Before we knew it, we were at Wasp Aid station. I did not get a split here. The temperature had warmed up significantly and it was time to shed the long sleeve layers and leave them in the dropbag.
Departing Wasp Canyon, we were now on the section of course which Wayne had marked on Thursday. He said that there had been several inches of snow on the trail then. I was glad it had melted since then. . We were now in with a pack of about 5 or 6runners in this section . In one spot , a runner from behind yelled out "This sure beats the hell out of being at work". I had to agree. It sure is nice to be let out of the cage every once in a while to play on the trails out West. Another runner in the group I recognized from Bandera in January (I had run a short bit with him on the Three Sisters Section). I overheard him talking to another runner about someone who had run HardRock and Badwater last year. I suspected that he might be talking about Joe.
As I removed my camera from a side pocket to take a photo, Wayne told me that we were heading toward the highest point on the course: Gunsight Pass. From there, he said the views would be wonderful in both directions. We passed through some nice terrain en route to Gunsight as the following photos show.
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