18 — Mission Creek

Miles 226.2 Mission Creek — 239.9 Mission Camp (13.6 miles)

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Rose: napping during siesta Thorn: being stung by a bee Bud: pit toilet just off trail tomorrow

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Another early morning, but we had to wait for first light since the next session was reportedly hard navigation by cairns.

I crisscrossed a narrow, densely vegetated creek bottom all morning. I had to stop at every turn to look for cairns, a guiding 4x4 (and make sure it wasn’t a dead yucca sticking up), or footprints. I would crawl up the steep bank and follow the trail for a while, then duck back into the creek vegetation. It was slow going, but my ankle did remarkably well considering the uneven creek boulders, rocks, sand, and log crossings. I think the slow pace helped the most.

What also helped was the near-constant access to water for once. I only carried 1 liter of water for most of the day.

Our siesta was under a big tree before switchbacks up. I actually beat Pebbles here (she’s usually one of the fastest)! It was shady when we got there at eleven, but the sun moved and everyone chased the shade under the tree. I crawled under a large downed tree. It was the first siesta in a while where I actually got to nap; Pebbles and Mitch generally chitchat through the siesta. We’re all tired today. The long miles on Jacinto have caught up to us. I don’t sleep well at night either. Jo & Andy joined us for siesta too. By the end of siesta, most everyone was chilling under the downed log with me, bonking their heads of the branches when they stood up.

The last leg of the day was 2k’ up and 4.4 miles. I was dragging on the switchbacks for some reason. Some for the heat, but I think I need to start eating more. An actual proper lunch, not just a bar and snacks.

About 2 miles in, a bee started attacking me. It swarmed around my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. It landed on my sun hoody, buzzed by my ears. I swatted at it, lowered my sun hoody to swat at it. It would not leave me alone: crawled into my hair, crawled on my hood and hat, refused to be shaken from my hat, crawled on my sunglasses. I was shrieking and swatting in the middle of a hill. It stung me on my eyebrow and still persisted for another minute.

I was shaken up, hustling down trail a little to evaluate at a safe distance. I took a Benedryl just in case it started to swell and made sure the stinger was out before I started hiking again.

The Benedryl made me hike even slower. I was dragging myself uphill.

Eventually I made it to camp, too late in the evening to dry my sweaty clothes. Just enough time to set up cowboy camping and eat dinner. Thankfully, my ankle felt fine.