I think the thing that is ever present in my mind is finding a place to hang. Most of the territory I've been in has been steep with plenty of trees, but they are over the edge (or uphill) of a sharp slope...not something I really want to swing out of in the middle of the night! Plus, when I ask people coming north they tell me about flat spots, not hanging spots. So I keep looking at the map, trying to see if it looks like it could be a good spot. Not clear for sure.
At noon when I pulled up to the listed campsite near Deer Creek and saw that there were plenty of spots to hang I decided to stay there rather than continue on another two miles with an unknown situation up there. The guide said it was a small campsite and if there was already someone there I'd be SOL.
I was just setting up when up comes a couple who is going SOBO, or southbound. Fire Woman and Nomohawk came to sit for a minute and mentioned to me they had just seen a bear, not 200 feet from the campsite. Yikes! I looked around and didn't see any way to hang my food so when they invited me to join them two miles further on at the spring I decided to join them. At least there will be three of us if we get a visit from a bear.
So here I am, resting after an 11 mile day of all, and I mean all, uphill. I am beat up from the heat and grind of today but tomorrow should be better as the uphill is first thing and after that the trail levels out for most of the day.
I must say it has been fun meeting these folks. They are kind and funny and offered me a trail margarita. Quite good after the long day I had. It looks like I'll be seeing more of them as we appear to be on the same pace and our goals are the same, at least for now. It's nice to have good company.
Tomorrow is a 14 mile day. Yikes.
Here are some random images from the day.
Somebody didn't make all the way to camp last night. 
McCloud River, 7am
Butterfly
Mariposa Lilly?
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