Day 5 came with a glory of sunrise (as you may have seen on Wednesday's post) and, thankfully, no rain confronted us - which as good news, as was the fact that our hike would be (for the most part) downhill). The less good news was that it would be the longest mileage, over 14 miles. The goal was to reach our original campsite, the Post Corral Creek.
The descent was, for the most part, pretty straightforward. The trees, shrubs and plants grew more plentiful as we continued down.
We descended into what was effectively the King River Canyon, where the river became our boon companion over the next several miles.
The hiking along the river was much more up and down as we followed the contour of the trail and the landscape. The good news was that we were back into maintained trail territory; we passed at least two sets of hikers, the first time we had seen anyone other than ourselves in two days.
This years' rains and snow made for some green, large Alpine meadows.
Our halfway point was a stop along the King River, where we spent about 30 minutes relaxing. Overall my stamina held up well during the descent and there were no signs of anything like Altitude Sickness, likely a combination of the descending altitude and finally getting acclimatized.
Just as we were getting ready to head out, the rain clouds started to roll back in. It appeared we would spend the rest of the hike in one final rainstorm.
Those are some engaging photos, help to wake a person up in the morning. That was a fair day's hike TB.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, Waking up in the Wilderness is one of the things I do not can ever get tired of. The mornings are inevitably spectacular. Even seeing them now makes me happy.
DeleteIt was a fair hike, although mostly downhill. I believe my current maximum hike is 19.85 miles in a single day, which was about as far as I could go.
Good thing I don't have to pick favorite photos. I really do like the meadows, though. Such a beautiful place. Glad to hear you were on the mend!
ReplyDeleteLeigh, seeing these as meadows one comes to understand what a meadow really is - not the urbanized counterpart that we often substitute.
DeleteThe lack of additional health issues was welcome - but it was always at the back of my mind.
Wonderful images and no health issues. A good wrap up.
ReplyDeleteThanks John. It was a good hiking day.
DeleteI'm not sure I've ever hiked along any mountain river that was easy. Between the terrain blocking us in, river crossing to avoid terrain and all the dense vegetation along the river banks, I prefer to stay up above their flood plains as much as possible and just descend for water and breaks.
ReplyDeleteEd, these have not been terrible hikes. I am not sure if it is due specifically to the geography of glacial canyons, but it is certainly not as difficult (in most cases) as I would have expected.
DeleteI can't get over how crystal clear the water is. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, but this flatlander is obviously way too used to muddy water.
ReplyDeleteBecki, it remains the same for me as well. The clarity of the water is enchanting.
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