First trip of the season! Actually the first trip out for me in the last two seasons. And we got a late start to boot. Blame me on this one—on two counts. First Sherri pretty much had to get this one together—she had to pack us on this one. And secondarily, I was working until this morning.
So Sherri got us packed and we left the house around 10:00am. Sherri drove until we reached Kings Canyon and I drove into the Canyon—Roads End. Got our permit and off we went. Well, sort of. Talked with some people from Washington about snow plants. Off we go a little after 12:30.
Rivers are running high. Even the creeks will be challenging. Sherri took of her shoes at the second creek after Copper Creek. This is a creek we would ordinarily cross by rock hopping, or it would be dry.
The day is hot. The first two miles. As we knew before, was going to be dry, sandy and exposed. But we are on the trail. Good joy!
We met a couple from San Francisco. At least they live there now. Greg is from Buffalo; Gorcha—at least I think that is how you spell her name—is from Poland. Turns out they need about twice as much water as they brought. Later on, we pump water for them, right before Mist Falls.
We stop for lunch at the Bubbs Creek Trail Junction. Its pleasant. Cooler. River is flowing swiftly. Lunch is the usual—peanut butter, nutella an crackers—ah so good. Its already after two—we have made some pretty good time.
Now It cools down, but the climb starts up the 600’ to Mist Falls. Sherri is doing pretty good. We shall hear the roar of the river until we reach Paradise Valley. We stop at Mist Falls to fill our bottles and make CytoMax. I get all wet from the spray. At least the one side of me does.
Now for the hard work. We climb 900’ up to Paradise Valley. It’s a familiar trail we like well. Sherri is starting to feel drained. But that all changes when we see a rattler on the trail. Medium sized. We wait for it to pass. It takes up residency in some rocks to the side of the trail. We pass on the other side. From that time forward Sherri stays a lot closer to me and I take more breaks.
As an aside, Sherri has been hiking with poles for four years. Myself, I am not sure about them. Andrea let me try hers for an hour a couple of years ago. Not sure that I am a true believer yet. But at the last REI sale, I bought some REI poles, but then traded them in for some Black Diamonds. This is the first use of them. Going on the flat or climbing on dirt they are great. For going up rock steps I came close to tripping a couple of times. I guess I will need to figure out how to use them. Oh yeah. Around the rattler, I was glad to have them. Will need to work with them.
We got to Paradise Valley a little before 7:00pm. Long day. Most of the spots already taken. We camp at #2. Pleasant enough, but exposed to the trail. The men in #3, next to us have a good conversation. We have soup and noodles for dinner. Then an after dinner Girl Scout cookie—sin and paradise all in one. Lots of deer around. River is slower, but wider. We go to bed as darkness falls.
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