I hiked up from Cook and Green today. On the way up, it was clear that a lot of trail work had been done to clear the blowdowns which people had been warning me about at trail days. After climbing the ridge, the trail was mostly flat and the going was quite easy. I passed White Mountain and Condrey Mountain before descending to Bearground Spring for camp. Today’s mileage was 17 miles, 27.4 km.

I had no trouble waking up before dawn this morning. The night was so warm and still that I’d been able to sleep under the stars with no interruptions. Despite waking so early, I saw the other hiker next to me, Camilo, was already up and packing. The hikers this far back are all putting in long hours to hike serious miles, which is great motivation for me to get moving too.

I packed up the small amount of gear I’d slept on last night, and made myself breakfast. While I ate, 3 deer were hanging around watching me and they weren’t afraid to walk right up either.

I left camp by 6:30 am and got to see the sun rise over the trail. The landscape here is a mixture of trees growing in small patches, amongst swathes of burnt forest with scrubby, prickly regrowth.

As I walked through this section, I remembered all the warnings I’d heard from people at trail days about fallen trees blocking the path. For several miles, there was fresh sawdust and it was clear that work had been done very recently to clear the trail. There was just one mile left of uncut trail for me to cross which gave me an appreciation for the previous work.

Once free of the burn scar, I walked through healthy, green forest and over rolling hills for the rest of the day. After spending just a few days in NorCal, I was already excited to enter Oregon; known for it’s excellent trail condition and gentle grades.

On the way down to camp, I had great views over the forest. I made it to Bearground Spring with just enough daylight left to cook dinner and set up another cowboy camp under the trees.