28mi

Descending further down in altitude the temperature gave me a nice chill. I noticed something odd with how the morning sun began illuminating everything. Once the sun peeked over the ridge it looked strangely familiar, like a sun screened by the smoke of a distance forest fire similar to the sunrises I started my days with in Washington on the PCT in 2015. The sun glows a dim deep red-orange, and casts everything in a strange eerie light.

As trail rose to another bald peak listening to music I caught movement up ahead from beneath the brim of my hat, a bear, a grizzly? It was a ways away and was already walking away by the time I realized what it was, unfortunately it was walking right in the direction of the trail which curved to the left. I stopped and watched the fur ball rock from side to side into the woods I was about to kick through. I thought this would be the perfect time to practice my harmonica to let the bear know I wasn't sneaking up on it. Coming around a particularly thick chunk of forest the bear was staring 30 yards away at me. I stepped back calmly, the bear turned and disappeared. Whew, was NOT expecting to experience this down this far. I expected grizzly country to start mid Wyoming.

My day ended with Wire Rims startling me while resting at the last water source of the day by popping out of the woods from behind after not seeing him all day after walking 28 miles. Of course I was listening to the Dave Brubeck Quartet. HOLY MOLEY. The wilderness is not some place for people to be jumping out of places unannounced, especially after seeing a grizzly earlier.