Steps in the Right Direction: Lost Creek is Right! Day 3

Ohh, Baby! We are getting good! Today we are up and at the breakfast thing with almost complete efficiency! We only had to get up once! Of course, Pat is a champ at this and did not have to climb out of her chair once. We are but weee grasshoppers at this backpack experience thing. Pat, seems to think we are good candidates for mastering the organization needed for a one-sit meal. We will continue to hone our skills.

We break camp at 7:42 and begin a climb that seems to go on and on. We are hiking up to a pass called MacCurdy Park. It is around 12,000 foot in elevation. We do not have an altimeter, but we think we are around 10,400 or maybe 10,600 depending on where on the map we really are? We climb slow and steady taking breaks to get our packs off and for Pat to get a drink of water. Kathi and I have our camelback water reservoirs hooked up so we can sip away while hiking. Pat prefers to hike for a distance or time and then drop her pack to take out her Nalgene water bottle and guzzle down some water. No worries either is fine. This gives us a good break from the pack and gives us a chance to do some snacking. We do not ever really stop and have lunch. We just sort of grazed our way through the day. Dried fruit, a little jerky, some cheese, nuts, and Luna bars. Each stop, I manage to find some sort of great item to snack on.

We arrive a spot in the trail that has some little pool of water. The trail comes down to the pool, but it is difficult to see where the trail continues. There are several little offshoot trails that come and go from the water pool. Pat needs to soak her feet, so we have another snack and while we are doing some map reading we watch two people come down the trail from the direction we wish to go. Lucky for us, all we had to do was watch where they came down through the rocks. Pat had watched a YouTube from some guy who posted his trip around this trail. He had mentioned that the trail was a bit tricky through this session. I see why!

We finally arrived at the pass. Most of this up hike was in the trees with occasional vistas of lumpy rock formations. There is a junction trail at this point it is around noon, so we stop for some photo's, a foot rest and some water. We are looking at the map. It looks like we are going to loose some elevation and then have to gain it back again. We feel pretty good and are ready to get moving.

Hiking downhill we make good time to the bottom and cross McCurdy Creek. The creek is pretty low, as in just inches of water. Since we have not seen water for awhile, we ask Pat if she wants to soak her feet. We are headed to a place called Lake Park. Pat is going to skip this foot soak and do a foot soak at the Lake. We continue hiking. Since we are at the bottom of the valley, we need to hike up and over the next pass. This one seems a bit steeper and we need several spots along the way to grab a drink. As I mentioned we are on our way to Lake Park.

Up and over the pass and down down down to the Lake... Except, we can't find the lake or water. We drop our packs and divide up to scout for water. We establish what directions each of us will go to search, and to not get lost...Roger that, Do not get lost! I head back the way we came to look closer at the last campsite we walked by. Usually, if there is a fire ring, there is water of some sort close by. I arrived at the fire ring and started walking towards the sound of a frog. Thinking frogs and water go together. I found a bog. Much further out into the bog I sighted a pond. I could not find any water running to or from the pond. Hmm, Lake Park is the wrong name for this place. More like Puddle Park. I return to make my report. Neither Kathi or Pat found water on their recon trip. It was pretty clear that we could not stay at Lake Park. But we did need water. I was down to my last 8 oz and so were both Pat and Kathi. Pat needed to soak her feet.

So doing what all great leaders do, Pat put on her bog walking shoes (camp shoes), took the dromedary (water bag) and a cup and then set off to gather some of the bog water. I wished I would have taken a picture of this. Pat had to wade out into the pond to get to some sort of clear water and scoop it into the dromedary. She said she had one step that was a bit of a surprise, but she managed to control the lake walk and did not fall in. She said she was in up above her knees. Thank you, Pat, for retrieving some water. We used the water filter to make the water drinkable and filled up everyone's water reservoirs. Hmm, the water although clear still tasted kind of boggy. This is when you either believe in the magic of a water filter or not... Was the pond water really drinkable? We always carry a little crystal light lemonade packet to help improve the taste. This was a good resource to have. I'm thinking that believing in the power of a good water filter is a good belief to have. We are going with it.

As we hiked out of the Lake Park area, we passed a downed and decaying Lake Park (Puddle Park) sign saying we were at 10,880 feet. We had good look at the map and need to hike up to Hankins Pass and then down to find a good location for camping. As we are hiking up the side of the mountain we have some good vistas of some white capped mountains. This always is a welcomed site.

Hiking out of Lake Park was very steep. I feel very happy to have some lemonade bog water. We arrive at the Hankins Pass. It is pretty clear there will be more hiking today. There is not water at the pass. Looking at the map we all agree that the first place with good water is our home for the night. It is getting late in the day. Fortunately, we are all down hill from this spot. After about a mile we find a fire ring /campsite. The water is just barely moving. We press on. We have already had our fill of "slow water". We pass a couple of young guys hiking without shirts under their heavy backpacks. (This type of no shirt fashion is only done by young strapping male youth in the prime of their lack of brain cells. Carrying a large pack while moving means there will be friction. Friction equals a possible blister. Blisters while hiking is bad.) One of the guys says there is a great site a mile or so down. The guys behind them have the map, so if we want to check we should stop someone else. They were looking for water. We tried to tell them there was little water ahead. They were young. They were headed to Lake Park! They will be very disappointed to find that Lake Park is really Puddle Park. Hope they has some bog shoes!

We continue to hike downhill looking for a good source of water and flat ground to pitch camp. Around 5:30 pm we finally came to a water crossing. This was a good water source, and with some good recon work, we were able to spot a place to put our tents amongst some downed trees. This was paradise! Today was a hard long day of uphill elevation gain, lack of water, and downhill loss. Hiked from 7:42 till 5:30. Pat declared that today was her personal best for hiking on this trail. As the sun set down over the hills to the west, we put up our tents, sat down to prepare our dinners. A great day, great meal, well-earned miles, easy conversation, good friends...life is good. Oh, and fresh water to replace boggy water...life is even better. We will sleep well tonight.

I am guessing we hiked around 10 miles today. I need my Gps unit for things like this.