Shelly Meadow Campsite

I woke up this morning to smokey skies. This is the same view as last night, without the view. What a difference a few hours and some wind make. 
It was very disconcerting since I have no way of knowing if the smoke is from an old fire and being blown this way or is it a new fire and I’d better get the hell out of Dodge. I wavered, then packed up and walked back to the trail. Three nobo’s had camped at the nearby view spot and I asked them what they knew about the smoke. They said they didn’t know of any new fire but it was probably old smoke blowing in. I guess they’ve been walking in this kind of smoke for weeks and they were very matter of fact about it. So I decided to at least walk to the next spot and see from there what to do. 

When I got to Shelly Lake outlet the smoke seemed no worse so after breakfast and gathering water I headed out to hike the three miles to my “lift off” spot. The trail was relatively gentle, some up some down though I had to walk through more burn areas. 

But occasionally there would be an area that wasn’t devastated by fire and I’d get to see what it might have looked like before 2017. Still some burned trees but more of a mosaic of healthy trees along with the burned ones. 
I reached Hemlock Campsite around 11:30, intending to eat lunch and just linger there for a bit. But the area was swarming with yellow jackets and I couldn’t stay beyond eating lunch. It certainly wasn’t restful as I had to move around as I ate. So I packed up and said goodbye to Hemlock camp. This is an image of the nearby hill where the helicopter had dropped the hoist. 
Walking the three miles back to Shelly Meadow I arrived around 1:30. My legs were sore so I just decided to stay here for the rest of the day and night. I hung my hammock and rested, listening to a book on my phone. Some clouds started to float past so I put up my tarp, just in case. 
Cooking dinner hadn’t brought out hordes of yellow jackets, just a couple of persistent buggers. So I got inside my hammock, with bug screen, and ate my turkey stroganoff in peace. 
This whole area is being grazed by cattle, every one of which has a bell around its neck. This means there is a constant clanging sound in the background. Sometimes in the distance and sometimes up close and personal. 


They didn’t much like the fact that I was here and were very skittish. As was the water snake I saw swimming along a small water channel near my spot. 
Hopefully my legs will be up for a 10.5 mile day tomorrow. They weren’t very happy with the 9 miler today, but we will see. There is always vitamin I.