Slept like a log last night. Soho says I was a making a racket last night snoring, so I guess that kept the bears away. Speaking of bears, I hate this stupid bear can. It weighs 2.5 pounds, hard to fit in my pack, and impossible to open early in the morning when the plastic is cold. I’ve taken to loading my food bag with breakfast before I go to bed so I don’t need to open it in the morning. I sleep with the food bag, so that kind of defeats the purpose of having the can in the first place. I figure me and the bear are going to have to fight it out if he wants my breakfast.
Today’s goal *should be* and easy 19 miles with only 2,500 feet of ascent/decent. We should be out of cow land with its churned up trails and frequent poo deposits.
Have not met many folks on the trail so far, but I expect that to start changing as we start crossing access points to the high sierra. When we get on the JMT at the Whitney portal, it will probably going to be a circus.
On the way up to Chicken Spring I ran into a cowboy type riding a pretty palomino horse. He was bushwacking around the trail, so I stopped and watched while he climbed the hill. We chatted for a few minutes. He was out looking for 3 horses that escaped last night and are wondering around the woods. Didn’t see them, but told him a few cows seem to be lost a few miles back. He gave me an earful about the land management forcing him to move his cows around, that they were not bad for the environment, how eventually the rangers would close the trail to even backpackers, yadda yadda. I get it. Sometimes these land management folks go over the top. Don’t know what the answer is. All I want is to not step in cow shit and drink water that tastes like ass.
Said bye to cowboy dude and carried on up the trail. Just before Chicken Spring I ran into a dude coming down with his fishing gear. Apparently he day hiked up to fish in Chicken Spring only to find out that the rangers had killed all the fish there because they were not indigenous to the lake. Something about saving another frog. He seemed pretty bummed.
There was water coming from the overflow of the lake, but I bypassed a fill up. I’ve come to hate water spilling from lakes. It is warm and taste like swamp. Two things that don’t go together.
The climb ended at about 11,400. I’m still getting used to the altitude, but I’ve a system of hiking until my heart rate gets too high, stop for a minute, then continue on. Seems to work for me so far.
Speaking of poo, well, that is always on my mind around this time of the day. I thought doing my business at the highest peak today was a good goal. It turned out to be perfect. Good digging ground, solitude, views of the valley below, and…..a one wiper! Perfect drop.
Rest of the day was long descent to Rock Creek. Got passed by two couples who looked pretty fresh. I can tell the lead couple knew their stuff. The other ones not so much. They left a giant cloud of dust in their passing. Looks like I’m closing in on the JMT types.
Soho was setup next to river when I arrived. Got the tent squared away and had a good Mountain house meal. These things are almost universally good. Glad the remainder of my hike will have these in my resupply boxes. Did 19 today. River is roaring next to me, going to be another good nights sleep.
