Mile 1578-1601 Ridge on Scott Mountains to Paynes Lake

So you may remember we cowboy camped last night on Tracy's insistence. Not long after dark, I woke up to find my sleeping bag saturated with dew or what Tracy and her people call "doo". I spent an uncomfortable night trying to keep my damp bag from getting on the dirt, and trying to keep my clothes bag dry, which I was using as a pillow. When we woke this morning there was a layer of frost on everything. A sudden change in weather for us. We decided to just lie there until the sun dried everything. We got on the trail ten past nine, our latest ever. 

The scenery today was really interesting, red rocks to white granite, tall pine forests, meadows, lots of small creeks and springs. In the latter part of the day some of our views from the ridge were obscured by thick smoke from the Oregon fires. It was a shame our views weren't clear but at the same time it added a certain allure to the atmosphere. 

We met just three hikers today. Flower who is hiking 1500 miles from Kennedy Meadows to Cascade Locks in just 6 weeks, she's been doing 40 mile days. We spoke for just a couple of minutes, she has places to go. Then we met Israh and Astrid from England who we met briefly before at Burney Falls. We will all be in Etna tomorrow and have planned to go to the pub. We are actually camped across from each other at the lake. I used my indian flute to signal our presence when they arrived. See, it has its uses. 

I'll finish today's post with a very typical Ing n Trace trail conversation:

Me: OMG! Look at that rock formation, it looks like Nefertiti, if I lived here I'd worship it every day, wouldn't you?

Tracy: Uh huh

Me: Oh look Nefertiti's about to be attacked by a rogue polar bear. Do you see that rock?

Tracy: Uh huh

Me: Why do you always reply "uh huh" to absolutely everything I say?

Tracy: Any spare energy I have, I'm saving for an interesting conversation. 

Me: !