18.1 Miles
Up In the Pines Near the Red Conglomerates
It was a late morning to start out and it was uphill for miles. Nothing but switchbacks but it was all ok because today had a nice surprise in store for us about six miles in. About a quarter mile off trail right near an abandoned limestone mine was a small vertical cave which, according to the Ley map the legend is that in the winter the cave would cover with a ow and Bison would fall in and die leaving piles of bones on the bottom. I could t pass that up. We got there and climbed down a narrow cave to the bottom which was littered with bones so much so that it was pretty much the floor. Now I don't know my bones too well but they looked more like elk but there were no skulls to really tell. My guess is that mine workers dumped the meat stripped bodies of animals they shot down there which would seem more logical but the folklore definitely sounds more enticing.
That afternoon we hiked around and down more cross country meeting a few more nobos including Raisins who I met at the Saufleys on the PCT last summer. As we climbed storm clouds formed and the sun was setting. We gazed over to a distant saddle and saw 50 elk's silhouettes along the sky. The sunset was wonderful but we were hiking cross country so when it got close to dark we called it a night because navigation would be way to much work.
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