Despite the awkward end to the day, it has been a great one. The moral of the story is to always bring a flashlight on day hikes (as if I didn't already know that).
Supper tonight is Mountain House Jamaican-style Chicken and Rice, which turns out to be an excellent, spicy rendition of red beans and rice with a few chicken bits thrown in.
After supper, really strong winds set in and I have to put on a sweater and my full-length jeans to stay warm, even though the temperature hasn't dropped all that much. The relentless wind is strong enough that the tent flaps back and forth endlessly, noisily, as if someone is beating on it on the exterior, loud enough to almost erase the sound of the trains rumbling in the valley below.
I'm glad I placed large rocks inside the corners of the tent earlier today. My flashlight hanging from the tent ceiling sways back and forth continuously and I think I'm on a ship at sea in a storm. After midnight I realize that I'm going to need quite a bit more brandy if I want to fall asleep amongst this noise, so I indulge accordingly. My recently purchased tent is surviving the wind so far, but I wonder how much it will take.
I fall asleep finally around 2h.