A pretty lonely day on the trail. Almost would have been the first day without human contact on the trail so far. But then one SOBO showed up in the last hour…
Downhill in the morning and the first encounter we made was another black bear. It was munching something in the ground when we passed it maybe 150ft away from it. It looked up and as soon as it realised we were there it made a 180 and ran as fast as it could. Good bear 😉
The lowest point of the day was a creek and gorge. On the way down I shortly went off trail and by that scared off a rattlesnake which curles up and rattled at me since I was way to close for its taste.
After our 4,000ft drop in the morning it meant almost 3,000ft back up. Man, I can tell I am tired. No real rest day in over two weeks. I can feel it. But I also just want to get done with this stretch now.
Someone had fun putting little slogans on the trail markers. One we couldn’t pass of course 😂
And then we came across this in the middle of nowhere. Can’t be a supporter of ultralight hiking 🙊
Will reach Belden tomorrow. That’s where we skipped up north after we left the Sierras because of the river crossings. With the last 23 miles we will close the gap. The it will be done – all of California & Oregon. Only 510 miles to go in Washington.
Wake up at 4.45am. Good night!
