| June 29, 2005 |
| Leaving Bear
Fence Shelter and going to Rock Spring Hut. |
| We have
13 miles to go today to reach the next shelter. The trail is
rocky this morning, but easy to travel. Rained last night at
the shelter before we went to bed and today it appears as if it is
going really rain again. |
|
Yesterday about half we ran into
another rattle snake. This one wasn't brown with diamonds,
this one was real dark black with diamonds and rattles. I did
take a picture of that one, but I was already past it. It was
probably 4 to 5 feet long. The other one was really
aggressive, but one didn't seem to be. |
|
I'm walking beside of some really large
boulders now. This path is nothing but rocks, like a rock
slide and you have figure where to put your feet. |
|
I'm standing out on a rock cliff and
the only thing I can see is fog. If I look down it's
probably about 75 feet down. The sedum here is like the sedum
we have growing at home. It has the pink tops to it and this
is the first time I've seen this particular kind in the wilds. |
|
One thing about the rain, the next day when
you stat hiking again, you can walk and not make very much noise. It
also makes the spider webs sparkle. On Skyline Drive at mile marker
55.1, 3253 feet. The boot and Strap. So, far I've seen
about 5 bears. |
|
I think I see jimson weed that is
just about read to bloom. A pinkish-mauve color on top
of it. |
|
It was a steep climb over Hazel Top 3,500
feet. A steady incline, got really hot and sweaty. After
that it leveled off and was really flat. Lots of ferns on both
sides, easy walking for a couple of miles. We're coming into
Milam Gap Skyline Crossing. Looks like a big open meadow.
It has fern undergrowth, A little low weed, but if you look
across it looks like grass that is growing. The
trail is wood and dust covered, flat and easy. |
|
We are hiking on the Skyline Drive going into
the Big Meadows Center, we're going to get something cold to drink
and maybe a snack. I ended ordering a hamburger with
everything on it and French fries and Simon and I had dairy cream
custard. From there we walked up to the lodge and spent a
couple hours looking over the gift shop there. Then went down
to the Bar-grill and had a couple cups of coffee. |
|
Hiking up now to a little section of the
trail to an overlook, looking down into the mountains and little
farm valleys, it looks like it going to rain any minute. We
still have about 2 miles to go to the shelter tonight. Now
hiking in the area under the overlook we were standing before, the
raspberries are just about ready to ripen plenty of them here.
Here comes the rain! We stopped to put our rain covers on.
The trail coming out of the big meadows park have been very rocky
with huge rocks on each side of the trail, just beautiful! Now
hiking in the heavy rain coming out of the mountain and it just
keeps coming. You can it coming. It will probably
rain until we get to camp.
NOTE: I can hear the heavy rain and thunder on the
tape. Kathy The trail is beginning to look like
a river. The hill is straight up that we have to climb and it
looks like there's rocks and big step ups. I'm soaking
wet, it looks like I've been swimming. |
|
Made it into Rock Spring Hut about 7pm.
When we arrived there was a bunch of 10 to 12 year old kids there
that were out in the group hiking. I didn't think there was going to
be a place to stay in the shelter. The kids finally put up
their tarps and I found a spot in the shelter. |
|
Swing'n Jane and
Simon |
|
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