Date: 2015-04-05
From: Lynn's Camp Creek

To: Just Before Trail Boss Trail
Miles today: 25.0

Happy Easter!!Today was a slow-starting day. I wrote it off as a holiday! The reality was it was cold again this morning and I had trouble getting started.I opened the rain fly on my tarp and got ready. When I stopped for a moment, I noticed there was something in my shoes... A leaf or a bug?? Nope. They were ice chunks that had fallen off of my tarp and into my shoe. Awww, ice. It was also very dark where I had camped. It was down in a low spot by a creek. I had expected it to be this was. The good points of the spot were its beauty. Right next to the lively creek, giving a nice, constant "white noise". The only thing I don't like about the wonderful creek noise, is the difficulty bears have in hearing me near the creek.I slowly motivated and got packing. Heading out at 815am, I knew I would have to hike a bit later tonight. Immediately, the trail took me up and down a quick mountain before repeating the task with a bigger 2,000 ft climb.I made steady progress up the hill. The temperature also made a pleasant climb up. I was glad to be doing this climb in the cold of morning. There were more signs of spring! More blooms poking out here and there. Though very occasional, their color and beauty stood out. Could the white flowers be Bloodroot?? Hmm, not sure. I really love seeing color sprinkled in the woods.Today, the weather became quite beautiful and was near perfect. There were winds all day, but that helped to cool the intense sun.Following the trail's climb, it bounded along some rocky ridges. At times, there were unique and massive boulders to check out. Other times, it took all concentration hiking from angled rock to angled rock.It was nice to meet two families that were out for Easter on a family dayhike. They were all very pleasant...one family was dressed in their Sunday best and we're taking a short Easter dayhike. I especially loved that the had their geriatric dad/grandpa with them!I took one small break today- 20 minutes. Just enough time to treat a bottle of water and grab a snack. (The water treatment takes 5 minutes to activate, then 15 to treat). I walked on. Toward the end of the day, I was getting a bit tired. Because of this, I grabbed dinner water early in case I found a camp. I loaded up 2.5 liters of water and hiked on.I didn't find camp for hours... Sometimes, it was a lack of tent pad. Other times, it was too close to a road. Or no bear hanging tree.I was surprised to begin seeing evidence of a recent fire. It looked well managed, almost like a prescribed burn. Luckily, it seemed like the fire was kept low and cool, so as to not let it get out of control.After I walked through a small wildfire area, I found myself on top of a nice wooded ridge. I wanted to find a campspot and really wanted to stop, but then I saw that there were already campers there. I was disappointed. I would have to walk on.Then, one of them yelled , "Hey Sycamore!"It was California, the guy I met back in Hot Springs! Then, the other guy was Lucky, who I met going into Damascus sometime back. Very cool!!!They invited me to camp with them. Awesome! Time for instant potatoes loaded with Taco Bell Taco Sauce!! Mmmmmm!!!!! As I relaxed for a few minutes before the sun goes down, i was able to enjoy our cool campspot on top of this nice, wooded ridge line. It was another good day!!