I did not sleep well last night. One person tents are meant for one person only. It was hot and cramped with two of us inside and neither of us slept well as a result.
Anyway, we got up and got going about 6:45. The day began with a long uphill climb in which a little smoke from a nearby fire found its way into the area.
It was so bad that Frank had to stop to use her inhaler at one point. We reached a high point and rested briefly. Some sections of trail are known for beautiful scenery, some are known to be dry. This section should be known for yellow jackets. The past few days they have been everywhere. They don't bother us, they just fly around and are a little annoying. At this place where we stopped, about 10 of them found us and were flying around. I got annoyed and pushed on to the water.
It was two miles ahead and when I got there, it was quiet and peaceful with no bugs to bother me. Frank rolled up and the J-PRO. Phantom Dooker and Hocus Pocus also showed up. Frank and I got water and then continued along. We hiked a few more miles and reached Squaw Valley Creek which had fantastically cold water.
We all hung out here and stuck our feet in the water before hiking up a long ascent. It was all in the trees, but at the top, we got great views of Shasta as well as Castle Crags, which we'll go past tomorrow.
We got water at a spring and then hiked down to our campsite for the night. We have a fantastic view of Shasta this evening from our site.
Frank, J-PRO, and I are all camping here tonight, trying to avoid the mosquitoes. We did ok and had intended to cowboy camp...until the ants showed up at dusk and we caved and set up the tents.
So much beautiful scenery still! The yellow jackets were just welcoming you to their home. Glad they didn’t sting; that would have been uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteAll so beautiful! Especially that creek. Glad no one got a yellow jacket sting...
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