Stiles, stiles and more stiles

Well, we were lucky with the weather report last night, and slept much cooler without the fly. This is something we will be needing to do more and more, as it is warming up at night. It was nice to look up and see the moon and stars last night whenever I woke up.
That campsite literally hummed loudly with bumblebees. We




never really saw any nests, but they were loud!
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise through the trees, got up, packed up, and got an early start. It was supposed to be a warm day. We hiked to a stream for water, and right before the stream we saw a huge black snake. Luckily, Keith, my resident snake expert, let us know it was harmless. Of course, I had already done the freaked out hiker dance! We took pictures and moved on.




Keith and I both cleaned up a bit in the creek. The water was way too cold to do much but wash hands and face. It sure felt great!
We hiked on up a really long climb, to the top of Walker Mt. and stopped for lunch. While there, several other hikers slack packed going the other direction. They told us about some trail magic just 4 miles away. I almost hated to hear this, because the heat had done me in, and I was dragging. Now I knew the boys would be racing to get there before other hikers got to it. There were only 4 Cokes left.




On the way, we passed through some beautiful pastures with incredible views. Every time we have to cross a barbed wire fence, there are these stiles we crawl over. They are steep, and it's hard enough to climb, but you add the weight of backpacks, and that makes it really challenging. Well, today I think we crossed the most stiles ever in a day! And the worst part was, they got steeper and higher as the day went on!




When the boys reached the trail magic, there was a hiker named Hicker there drinking the last drink. Not a good day for magic. Oh, well.
A thunderstorm was brewing, so we headed to the nearest shelter just in case. It had been so hot we needed water again also. The storm never hit us, and after filling water bottles, we hiked another mile to the prettiest campsite along a creek, at mile 557.3. It's called Lynn Creek campsite, and we will enjoy the sound of water flowing nearby all night.
















After we set up camp, other hikers slowly showed up - Dirty Girl (actually a man), Dances with Flies, Snagglefoot, and Flash all ended up camping with us. They told us that a park ranger and two Sheriff Deputies had hiked in earlier in the day looking for Craftsman and Turtle. They said they were looking for two hikers who had overstayed their welcome. I haven't heard if they found them or not.
-Steady and F100