June 24: Marble Mountain Campground to Grider Creek Campground (PCT mile 1624 to 1650)

We awoke to the sunrise on one peak of the Marble Mountains

We hiked completely up and around these peaks and came upon… snow! That’s Picaso in the first photo

Today I learned that I am not allergic to bee stings. While hiking up a hill in a slight breeze, one blew onto my wrist and without hesitation stung me. I was kinda pissed at that bee: such a waste of his life!

The mountains look very different to me than what I’ve been seeing the last few weeks- very green and the peaks are more flattened.

The day kept getting hotter and hotter as we descended out of the mountains down towards the Klamath River. I had to stop often and drink water, dunk my head and rest often- and this is going downhill! At one bridge crossing of the Grider Creek the allure of the shallow pools was too strong and I took a dip. That helped a lot, but we still had 7 miles to go. Ugh!

The last few miles of this hot, humid trudge was made bearable by fining Blackberries, Raspberries and Salmon Berries! They tasted fantastic- sweet and fruity. Most of all they kept my mind off the heat.

When we reached the campground, we crossed the bridge one last time and I saw kids splashing and swimming and laughing. I quickly dumped my pack and took a long soak. All cooled and cleaned I joined Picasso at our campsite for dinner. Halfway through dinner a nice breeze started blowing and all of a sudden we heard a loud crack and boom! A dead tree had snapped and fallen by the river. We quickly assessed our campsite for deadfall risks and felt OK with our choice, finished dinner and retreated to our tents to sleep.

I fell asleep quickly but did not use my sleeping bag until about 11PM.

Tomorrow is a short hike to Saiad Valley where we’ll take a Nearo (Near-Zero day).