OT Mile 196.2
Miles Hiked 170.7
Elevation 358 feet
Miles Hiked Today 14.8
Last night was fun. All the shelters that I have been staying in are wood log, three-sided structures. And they have metal roofs. Keeping in mind I’m in a forest where things fall from trees, that made last night crazy. All night long things fell off the trees and hit the metal roof. It sounded like gunshots and occasionally like a 500 lb bomb just dropped on the shelter. Suffice it to say, sleep was not an easy thing to do last night.
So sleep deprived me was up before dawn packing my gear away. I was off by the first light. Today was going to be straightforward 14 mile hike to the next shelter. However, there’s a campground about midway that I was thinking of visiting. The lure was fresh tap water, toilets and a place to dump about 6 days worth of garbage. Freshwater was my greatest motivator. Yesterday, I had to scoop water out of a mucky pond. Besides filtering that water, I also boiled it. Have pond water really screwed up my filter.
As it happens, I did go to the Lake Sylvia Campground. The restrooms were really plush. They had a shower, clean toilets and sinks. The restroom was even air conditioned. I spent some time getting cleaned up and back flushed my filter to get rid of the brown water left from the pond yesterday.
I lost an hour going to the campground but it was worth it. The one mile round trip was little to pay for the opportunity to dump garbage and get cleaned up.
With an hour lost going to the campground, I had to quicken my pace to get to the next shelter before dark. The Red Bluff Creek Shelter came into view just as it was starting to get dark. I was lucky again not to get caught in the dark.
The shelter is a newer shelter. It’s really nice. It actually has a privy, which is the first shelter I stayed in that has one. The shelter itself is totally enclosed. There’s two doors for entry and the shelter even has windows and bunk platforms. I feel like I should be paying someone to stay here.
I’m almost finished with the trail. Two more days and that’s it. A front is supposed to move through tomorrow with rain. I hope it is delayed at least one day.
