We slept very well last night but woke up to the drone of mosquitos at 5 AM. Back to sleep…when we finally got up they were better. A little. It was nice and cool at our campsite, but as soon as we got into the open the air heated up. The sun was intense again today. The morning took us through expansive meadows, up a few climbs, and on some amazing ridgewalks. Because of this it was 13 miles to the first reliable water at Mule Ear Creek, our lunch spot.

We were glad to reach the creek when we did. Pouring cold water over our heads was incredibly refreshing. We headed back up the spur trail to the PCT and the shade of the pines. This was understandably a popular spot and a few other hikers passed us as we had lunch. Stepping out into the sun again was a shock. Before long, though, we were into the shady forest as we came down from one last ridgewalk.

We passed to the east of Jackson Meadow Reservoir. Th massive lake looked very inviting but we were hiking well away from and above it. We got our chance for a dip when we crossed a road bridge over a stream and saw a few hikers below – some of the same folks who passed us at lunch. We dropped down to the water and soaked our legs for a bit. No substitute for the showers waiting for us in town, but a bandana wipe-down on five days of sweat and grime is much better than nothing.

We set off eventually to get closer to town in order to make for an easy hike tomorrow. The trail crossed a few roads (the reservoir is a popular place for boating and OHVs) and undulated through the forest. None of true uphills were particularly difficult and we made good time – until we started down into the creek canyon where we planned to camp. Then the trail got very rocky and a little steep and we had to slow down rather than risk an ankle injury. It reminded me of the Wonderland trail – switchback after switchback down into a deep creep canyon.

Soon we could hear the water but the trail seemed to take forever to reach it, running above and parallel to it for nearly a mile. It was obvious when we had arrived at the campsite on our maps – the only flat spot we’d seen since we started our descent into the canyon! It’s surprisingly non-buggy down here but we set up the net tent anyway to guard against other vermin. Tomorrow we have only 5 miles to hike into town, where we’ll pick up a package and grab some grub.

– Posted from the PCT

Location:Pct mile 1193