Day 66; Sun July 1 2007

(Dr Bug) We camped last night at a wooded plateau just south of a spur trail to Raymond Lake. Yesterday was a 25 mile day and I was pooped. This may have been one of the most beautiful camp sites yet. Although we camped in the protection of tall mature pines, only 40 ft away, was the granite rock cliff edge where there was seriously 100 mile visibility to the south-east. This is a vista we had not experienced since Baden-Powell Mountain.

I retreived the food sack from the hanging spot in a large sequia tree approximately 80 steps north of or camp. I try to note land marks and count steps when hanging food. Embarassingly, I have wandered the woods in the past, attempting to retrace the path to our well concealed food.

I used the light cotton cord to hang the food. It's longer than the poly yellow rope. I was happy it did the job.

The morning walk was alternating forest and traversing steep open canyons. The mountain side was step, loose volcanic gravel. The path was narrow but not truely dangerous.

As the day progressed we dropped into more dense conifer forest with an occassional accent of a volcanic ridge. This became a busy area with clean smelling day hikers as we approached Carson Pass: a trailhead with a thru-paved road and a visitor center. Enroute we saw a group of rock climbers on a mountain called Elephants Back.

There were picnic tables and a group of thru-hikers at the visitor center. The center didn't have any food, only water, maps and guidence for tourists. This was the 15 mile mark. We ate dinner at picnic tables, a real treat to be able to sit and eat.

The 5 mile hike after dinner was not difficult - only one hard uphill climb at the end. The mosquitos were bad as it was mostly pleasant meadow walking. We met some trout fisherman along the way.

We camped with a big pod of hikers: Helen Wheels, her husban Norman, Riley, Billy Goat and late arriving Heidi and her dogs. They had a camp fire and that was nice.