20 miles

Overnight the clouds set really low and fog rolled into the valley that we are sleeping in. Everything is damp and everything we’ve washed is nowhere near dry. We intended on getting up early so that we could beat the other 30 hikers in town to the trailhead and not have to fight for hitches there. We were packed up and on the street corner by 7:15 am. It took us longer than usual. About 20 minutes before a gentleman towing a trailer let us hop in the bed of his truck. I don’t think it’s technically legal to do this in this state but I also don’t think anybody cares. Which I’m grateful for.

As we ascend out of the valley we go above the clouds and the sun is shining so bright on us already. It’s 72 degrees at 8 am. Today is going to be a scorcher and indeed it was. The high today is 91 degrees with 60% humidity. The mikes aren’t coming quickly today. We have to stop every 3-5 miles to take breaks and to get more water. I am completely soaked from head to toe in sweat like I just jumped in a pool.

Their is a swimming hole about 1 mile before where we were suppose to camp tonight so the plan was to stop there for a quick dip to cool off before we make camp for the night.

Fortunately/unfortunately at around 4 pm about an hour before we reach the swimming hole a random stop rolls in and just starts dumping rain out of nowhere. It’s nice because it was hit and we needed to cool down but it wasn’t nice because now all our clothes are soaked and they aren’t going to dry out. I don’t bother putting on my rain jacket because my shirt was already drenched in sweat so might as well let the rain wash me.

Anyways we get to the shelter and it’s packed. We have to backtrack a little down the trail to get to a camp spot we saw in the way in. It’s right next to a river. I typically try to avoid camping in spots like this because of the condensation, the noise, and the possibility of snakes. We hit all three. I saw two snakes on the walk there, a garter snake, and another one that I’m not sure what it is. Some kind of water snake or maybe a water moccasin? The river is rushing and dirty from the sudden downpour of rain so it’s very loud, and the condensation is just everywhere.