Got up just a tad before 7. Sun is already coming through and just about has reached our camp. David and Steven got up shortly afterwards. Breakfast is oatmeal, tang, and tea. This will be the standard breakfast throughout the trip. Pretty basic, but warm and filling.
Tents, tarps, and sleeping bags all are wet. There is a lot of moisture in the air and on the ground. But it did not rain last night. Drying takes a couple of hours. Played a game of cribbage. Lost something terrible.
David and Steven put a phase II repair on Steven’s pack. David found part of an aluminum walking pole. He used it as some additional bracing for the frame—more duct tape and string. But even with this additional bracing, we are still reducing his pack weight—I am taking the lunch canister; David the tent.
We set off at 9:45. We see a flock of deer in Turner Meadow, across the trail from where we camped. Shortly after we started out. The trail is mostly downhill.
We see and talk with a family we saw last night walking through. So far the only humans since we left the Ostrander trail.
Lunch break (N37.58608 W119.58651) is around 11:20, after 1 ½ miles. Its peanut butter, nutella, crackers, bagels and more. We are off again at 11:45.
After the trail junction (N37.58451 W119.58468), we start an easy to moderate climb. With the additional weight, I can feel the climb more than yesterday. Later on, we get steep. Scenery while not spectacular is good. Trail is less mushy. Right before we cross, Chilnualna Creek (N37.59151 W119.56695), we cross one of the many rivulets flowing across the trail.
Steven stops and tells me to look left—I had been scanning for a good place to cross the creek. There are two startled bears, golden in color. The first bear immediately senses us and runs away. The other bear still has his head down eating vegetation, then senses that his partner had run off. He starts running, without looking up, directly at me. About twenty feet away, he stops, looks up, and realizes the mistake. He veers to his right and runs up the hill out of site. So that is three bear, eight deer and four people on this trip, already.
After cross the creek, we take a short break. Its 12:45. David had found a small waterfall so we trudge over to it. Then we start our uphill for the next 2 ½ hours. The grade is not bad. Its just the pack is heavy. We get into Lower Chilnualna Lake (N37.59342 W119.54121).
We rest for a little while. Then David and I set off to Upper Chilnualna Lake (N37.59918 W119.53659) to see if it is a better lake (yes) and if the camping sites are better (we did not find any sites). The Upper Lake is a bit bigger and deeper and the backdrop more mountainish. But we did not find any camp sites. So back we came and circled the lower lake. We found a few places with fire rings. One is wide open and on the trail (N37.59437 W119.54162). We see how that is. If a little wind should blow, we are ok. But much more than that, it could be cold and miserable. By the way, the lake is ok right now, but it is shallow. Probably will be dry by August.
Dinner’s concoction was cabbage wraps with beef and noodle filling. Probably a little more would have been good. Finished by about 6:30. Nice fire to take some bite off the cool evening. We played a hand of cribbage—Steven and I won. Yeah! Onward to Mille Bourne—we lost.
Its getting cold and its time for bed. About 8:30.
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