May 16, 2007

Some sort of an animal attacked my tent last night and startled me awake. I screamed and Ed woke up.  Sorry Ed.  Ed told me he had heard gunshots.  Oh great, I thought.  Getting back to sleep took some time.

A bird call that sounded like his teeth were chattering woke me up this morning.  I was so comfortable in my tent and enjoyed listening to the animals.  I sleepily fetched water from a creek for Bison Ed and myself  returning the favor from last night.  I ate breakfast and took a short nap before beginning my day's hike around 9:00 a.m.  The water cache was my first stop where Ed and I took a break to hydrate.  I hiked on and met a southbound section hiker named Starman.  He, Ed, and I took a break and exchanged water information.  I ascended to an elevation of 5,655 feet in the heat of the day with little shade opportunities.

Ed and I took a very long lunch break at a 10,000 gallon concrete water tank used by firefighters.  We then hiked through a shadier mixed forest and chaparral.  I needed some extra breaks because my stomach was cramping.  We eventually hiked to mile 15 for the day with an opportunity to camp with nearly panoramic views.  Ed left the decision up to me and I jumped at the chance to catch both a sunset and a sunrise.

I forced dinner down and drank lots of water with added electrolyte replacement.  As I was relaxing in my tent, Stetson hiked up.  He and Squirrel Hunter were hiking a 25 mile day and planned to camp 3½ miles north near a creek.  Squirrel Hunter stopped by and told us a story about finding a plastic squirrel in his backpack.  Joe Anderson had planted the squirrel and Squirrel Hunter got a kick out of the prank.  Rumor is it, he's still lugging the squirrel.  I watched a beautiful sunset paint the sky while owls hooted in the tree nearby.  There are city lights below in the valley and stars lighting up the night sky.  Total miles to date: 508.00