Day 79

18 Miles

An animal must have smelled the rag I used to clean up my spilled dinner and came near the tent last night. I woke up to the sound of something rustling the bushes nearby. By the time I got my headlamp on and got out of the tent, it was gone. I didn’t see what it was, but I suspect a bear. I’ll have to clean the rag with some Bronner’s to get the food smell out of it; my rinse in the river was definitely not good enough. We’re also looking forward to replacement food bags because ours have lost their seals and are not odor-proof anymore. We have new ones in our bounce box, but that’s in Tahoe, so we have to wait a couple more nights. Pulled out of camp at about 8. Leapfrogged with a guy using real sticks for walking sticks. Also passed by a guy that works with the PCTA. He was with two forest service guys, and they were out clearing down trees on the trail. Many thanks to them. Right before we were going to stop for lunch, Marie spotted smoke two canyons over. We were on a ridge and getting near South Lake Tahoe, so we actually had cell reception. I called one of the ranger district phones and let them know what we saw. Hopefully, they can put it out quickly; it’s fairly windy today. Overall, the hiking was casual, no major climbs or descents, but plenty of elevation change to keep it interesting. We got a campsite that’s next to some tall boulders so we have a decent amount of wind protection.