Saturday, May 6 — day 41

PCT mile 572.92 to 592.95

I awoke and found my ridgetop campsite in a cloud

As I hiked, I could hear the wind turbines grinding away but I could not see them.  I was reminded of the film “Battle of the Bulge” where Henry Fonda goes in search of the German Panzer division by flying through the fog in a plane, stops the engine and listens.  Ok, not quite the same, but I know he hey are there but I just st can’t quite see them.

The fog lifted, but there was a persistent and growing cloud cover which kept the temperature down (yay!) but raised concerns of rain or even snow.

The trail led through some beautiful areas where the Miners Lettuce was dying off in a pink splendor 

And a bit further up the trail I came across Bear tracks

I kept my eyes peeled but did not see the bear.  Rats!

At the next water sorce I found a very fat and content frog- my guess is that this source will soon have eggs and then tadpoles…

I chose to get my water a bit further upstream from that plastic jug capturing the spring trickles.

I found another friend today!

I love these guys!

I also found a non-friend just in time: this one’s rattle is not developed enough to make a noise.

That’s rattlesnake number 8!

I set up camp and decided not to coyboy camp – the weather was too threatening.  Medic showed up and camped nearby.  It started raining at 8 pm.  And when I awoke…. well, that’s part of tomorrow’s story….

Thanks for reading!