Mile 20 to 37.7 Long Creek

Today was an early start and I was on the trail by 6:10 as the sun was coming up. There were nice purples and pinks in the sky, which was a treat as I hiked the first couple of miles. After a brief climb, I dropped down to a lowland and crossed a few creeks. There was high grass and old oak trees all around.

As I went along, low clouds started to move in and after passing under highway 8 (I believe) I began climbing into them. I saw various hikers resting by the trail early in the morning, but I decided to make the best of cool temperature and cloud cover and kept moving. I made it to Fred Canyon, 12 miles in, a little after 10:00. There was a stream with good flow and some idyllic trees with shade and I decided the place was too good to pass up. A lot of other hikers decided the same.

I met Jeff, who is from Olympia, Washington. He is working on hiking all the trails on the Olympic Peninsula and has worked his way through most on the eastern side.

I am surprised to see how diverse the trail is with a good balance of men and women and international hikers too. So far I have met people from England, Germany, India, and Australia.

After my break, I hiked another 5 miles of mostly uphill going up and over some low mountains to Long Canyon where I set up camp.  I started at 3,000 feet elevation in the morning and by the time I stopped at 2:00 I was at 6,000 feet.

I definitely did a better job eating through out the day today and kept myself well hydrated. Yesterday I didn’t eat enough and was lacking energy in the afternoon. It was also nice stopping early and just relaxing while listening to the birds. It’s important to take time to smell the roses too.

Wildlife: lots of lizards, birds and rabbits.