Mission Creek

June 1

Arose with the light as usual and was met with a day hiker while eating a pop tart for b'fast. We said our hellos and she asked if I was thru-hiking. Apparently her daughter had hiked the trail as well. As has often been the case, I got the comment about how late I am but that it'll probably work out for the best b/c of the especially heavy/deep snow pack in the Sierra. In fact I'm hearing that it's STILL snowing in places! People have been saying that it'll be near impossible to wait for the snow to clear (to the usual point - there's always a fair amount of snow in on the passes and thus the need for ice axe) and still have enough time to finish the trail before it starts snowing in the Cascades again. So the word is that people have been advising that we just push through before too long and just take it slow and careful... Should be an adventure for sure!! ;P Hell, I'll just be so happy to get to Kennedy Meadows, the gateway to the Sierra and the end of the desert!! Cause, this desert hiking stuff, it's like, for the lizards. Ba-dum-bum psh! Sorry, obviously getting loopy tired.

Brief stop at the wind farm to say hi and take them up on their offer for free, yummy, cold, bottled water. They were pretty cool and had even set up a nice little temporary shelter on the property, stocked with the bottled water. Wish I'd known that - I might well have hiked the extra mile or so in the dark to camp out there :)

Hot, dry climb out of the canyon. At one point came up to a barbed-wire cattle fence and gate. Only thing is that the gate was reeeeally tightly wired shut... I stood there a while trying to figure out if I was just missing something that would make it unlatch easily, also checking my guidebook and map, beginning to have doubts as to if it was the right way. I'd already climbed a bit in the heat and I could see that there was quite a bit more to do after the fence so getting it wrong wasn't really attractive.... And unlike that AT, you don't always get the signage you'd like to see.. Hell, on the AT you pretty much get a white blaze all along the trail. It's a regularly reassuring sight that you just rarely get out here on this trail. There had been a couple of times when I'd begun to wonder if I was on the right trail, simply b/c I'm used to the frequency of the AT blazing. So far I'd been good. Anyway, after a bit of internal debating and reassuring myself that I didn't make any wrong turns, I hoisted over and dropped my pack on the other side and hopped the fence. And after several miles of ascending up and then descending down from the ridge (checking them map once or twice more just to reassure myself) I finally got my validation in the form of a sign marking the trail. Wow... best of luck to those behind me. Especially those shorter, with heavier packs, and less athletic...

Decided to make the one mile side trip to the White Water wildlife preserve (formerly a fishery until fairly recently) for some water and a really sweet spot for lunch, possibly the nicest yet. The trail their was fun, fording the streams and routing finding through the rocky stream beds. Reminded me of when my mom, sister and I explored the river/stream bed fed by the glaciers of Mt Rainier in Washington, good times :) Lunch was on a picnic table perfectly shaded by trees next to a pond (tho man-made) filled with huge trout, fed by a small waterfall and flanked by a series of bird feeders being visited by several kinds of birds. A really nice breeze in addition to shade made for such a nice respite from the heat of the day.

Back out for more traversing of the stream beds which was fun, both for the challenge of finding the trail and for the stream crossings. It may just be me and my inclination towards water but simply seeing and hearing it was so nice.

After a good number of climbs and descents in the heat (what else is new :) and walking along the top of a ridge (during which I came across a couple of Canadians sitting at a nice spot with a beautiful view, slouched over with their heads on their packs taking a nap - the seemed really tired, either from the thru-hike they were also undertaking or from the previous night they'd spent in Palm Springs with a trail angel who had put them up for the night) I came down to bottom of a canyon through which Mission Creek flowed. As I made my closer to the first crossing I came up to a huge long snake stretched out directly across the trail. Not a rattler but not sure what kind, I'll have to research the pic I took later on. Didn't take long before it took off into the grass as soon as it noticed me, slowly and cautiously approaching it to get a better pic :)

Made a brief stop at Mission Creek to take off the shoes and soak the feet while eating a snack. Sure felt nice but was a little surprised at how it wasn't nearly as cold as I expected. I guess that's what desert mountain runoff feels like :)

Pushed on to get a few more miles in given some daylight left but the going was slow as I took on most of the 20+ crossings the trail makes as it climbs out of the canyon following the creek. Was pretty much forced to wade through a few getting the shoes and socks wet. Ordinarily on the AT I wouldn't have paid it any mind - just part of hiking the trail really. But out here with the blister probs, really trying to keep things dry as much as possible, constantly airing out the feet and switching between pairs of socks.

Made camp still near the creek and hurredly made and ate dinner as the chill rolled in with the constant strong breeze running through the narrow canyon.

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Location:Mission Creek