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It’s morning, 23 miles until the end of the trail. Some folks are waking up early and hitting the trail, they have been out there enough and want to be done today. I still have two days until I finish so I’m taking it easy. Another water/campsite strategy, only eight miles for me today. As I lay there listening to others pack up, I hear a lone, young, coyote start to howl. then another, and another soon the area is filled with the sound of coyotes, a lot of them. I hear some of the other campers chatting and one in particular, “I’m getting out of here”. Makes me chuckle. I lay there until I get to antsy and start my own morning rituals, start packing up the inside of my tent and change into my hiking clothes. I head out of the tent. It is wet, very wet. We are camped in a low area near water, the tent fly is soaked, everything inside is dry, I like this new tent! I pack up all except the tent and head to the beach to have breakfast while looking at a mountain lake. The tent is laid out in the sun to dry. I eat and have some coffee.

Pack up and start to walk. After about a mile there is the trailhead for the area. There are a number of campers there with 4WD and many other on the way, it is Saturday after all. Makes me think that the idea of a rooftop tent for the jeep is pretty cool. Could get to sites like this as a base camp and hike around. Hmmm. So, after the trailhead, another short climb and we se an old miners cabin with a trail up to it. A local tells me you can go up there and poke around the site, says it’s pretty interesting. Another reason for the rooftop camper…..

More walking. Sometimes you hike on sketchy areas such as this scree area. Doesn’t bother me too much but with a pack you do need to be careful. Some bike campers pass me and I have no idea how they are doing that, no way!

The plan is to stop at Junction creek for water and camp, Bill, the hiker I met a few nights ago, is going to join me there. Unfortunately when I get there it is hot, exposed and very buggy. Also it is low with water so it would be another wet morning. It’s also early, only one o’clock or so. I sit there for probably an hour thinking about it and decide to take a chance and continue on for a couple more miles where there MAY be a good campsite and some water. Turns out to be a good choice, a spot with good views and water not far away. Whew! Eventually Bill also made it up there and joins me. We have a nice evening chatting and looking at the views.