(Dr Bug) Didn't sleep well last night. It seems June 18 was the magic day when all the mosquitos hatch. We spent the night sleeping cowboy. I had bug netting over my head with the 20 degree bag up snug. It was too hot for that and it was difficult to fall asleep. Despite waking late we were on the trail by 6:10. We crossed a very substantial bridge over the San Joaquin River then started up hill for what seemed to be 2 hours. Around 11 am we were taking a water break by a stream when another hiker came down the trail. It was Tattoo Joe. He had given us a ride from Lake Marino to Campo on April 27 when this whole thing started. Joe is a legend on this trail. He is a very tough guy. He hikes with only the bare essentials in all weather conditions. We started hiking with him. He told us some great stories about his thru-hike in the Sierras in 2005. It was a record snow year. There was snow above 8000 ft. Many time he had no idea where the trail was and he used the distant mount!
ains and maps to determine his heading. The only ice equipment he had was an ice axe. We listened to Joe's fascinating stories for 2 hrs, and before we knew it we were standing on the top of Sheldon Pass. Joe left, we sat down, enjoyed the view and ate lunch.
There were times when we walked through dense clouds of mosquitos. It twirled my hiking sticks like a majoret to try and beat them back. Later in the day we gave up and spraid our legs with a deet replent.
At the Bear ridge trial junction we stoped to camp and found, to our suprise, the hiker Old Corpus. He is a neat old guy. He had spent two days a Muir Ranch. Said nobody else was there. The staff treated him really well.
The Bear Creek ford is traditionally very dangerous. Because of the low snow year in the Sierras, we lucked out. I was only ankle deep.
We walked 22.6 miles today from the falls at Evolution Creek to Bear Ridge Trail junction of the PCT.
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