Day 50: Bashed Behind

From North Creek mile 1164.4 to Mule Ears Creek mile 1179.3

Randy and I started hiking just before 7 am.  It got down to the low 40’s overnight so the snow was fairly hard.   There was no trail to be seen, only snow.  We would look at GPS and maps and pick a direction.

Much of the time we were on steep terrain and in forest.  Very slow going.  Most of the day was between 7500 and 8000 feet.

At one point we had to descend a very steep open area.  I glissaded down it.  That is basically a controlled slide on your butt.  Problem is I lost control.  The snow was rock hard and sun-cupped, very uneven and I could not slow down.  At the bottom it leveled out so I stopped but my tailbone is bruised.  Sitting is painful.

By 4pm we had only gone 11 miles.  We saw very little dry ground.  Then we hit a stretch of trail high on a south facing ridge.  The last four miles of the day we covered in 90 minutes.  It also had some fabulous views and our campsite is very nice.

We did 15 today and it is 16 miles now to Sierra City.  Mostly downhill.  I am hoping as we get below 7k feet we will have dry trail.