Sequoia National Forest - Mile 616 - 6/15

Today was one of those days where most things fell into place and worked out. I'm still surprised. This morning I had a decent climb up into further pine forested area and saw more wildlife than I've seen in the past few weeks. I saw a doe heading up the mountain, then my first bear of the trip which was thrilling, then a couple of cattle, a crapload of grouse, and a jackrabbit. The bear was exciting because I caught it up close and when it saw me it took off like it's ass was on fire down the ridge. Its fur was partially brown and slightly darker/black so I'm not sure if it was a black bear or a brown bear. It wasn't very large so my guess was it was a black bear and if I remember correctly black bears out west can have a tinge of brown in their coat.

After six miles I made it to the spring which was fenced off and gushing out a pipe from the ground, more fantastic spring water, if only it was more frequent! I spent time rehydrating there and hiked another enjoyable and shaded four miles to the next water source were I took lunch and a dip in some freezing cold water. After this spring I officially entered Sequoia National Forest and it's quite a beautiful place. Your surrounded by monster sequoia trees and large clusters of boulder outcrops which make for plenty to look at. I stopped seven miles before my campsite for the night to pick up four and a half liters of water to carry down there because there was a water cache where I planned to camp at but did not want to rely on it in case it was empty. I'm so sick of being short of water that I'm more than willing to carry the water down there. I hiked through a dramatic burn area and then downhill out of the national forest back into the god-forsaken desert. The last five downhill miles did a number on my knees and ankles with all the extra water and sure enough there was plenty if water at the cache. Better safe then sorry. The campspot is a great location with views of Mayao Peak, the huge desert mountain in the picture, as well as a very colorful sunset. All in all the day pieced together pretty well. Another day, another twenty miles hiked.