Please don't step on me...
A snake takes a little nap near
the summit of Mt. Gleason.
Friendly caretaker, Todd, poses
for a picture with Amy at the
North Fork Ranger Station.
Todd's bird's eye view down to
Soladad Canyon and beyond to
the Sierra Pelona.
We spent much of the day descending out of these mountains. As much as we had enjoyed certain aspects of this leg of the journey, the bugs were beginning to drive us both insane. The insects here work on a sort of swing shift. The mosquitoes work the 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift, the hoards of nats work during the day whenever you are moving on the trail and the biting flies land on you whenever you stop. Yes, I am sorry to say that the biting flies, first introduced to you and us in the San Jacinto Mountains, are also here. These flies light on you, painfully bite you, and suck your blood. In a sitting, I can kill 25. We collect them in piles as we sit. Scott wanted to make a necklace out of his. I also have over 80 bug bites mostly on my legs. I'm a sight.
As we descended, we ran into two guys on horses that told us that the caretaker at the North Fork Ranger Station would let us take a shower there. My step suddenly became lighter. Soon, we arrived at the station and were greeted by Todd, the caretaker. Todd has a deal with the Forest Service where he can live rent free in the facility with utilities and a motorcycle included and in return, he has to man the station from 9 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday. Not a bad deal.
He told us that there had been a tremendous heat wave in the valley for most of the week, which accounted for the hot weather in the mountains. He also told us that a campground 8.5 miles down the trail also offered showers and you could have pizza delivered to you there too. I took Todd up on the shower offer, but Scott gambled on the chance that we would make the additional miles. (The smart person showers at both places, don't you think?)
Unfortunately for Scott, I tired before (just before, as it turns out) making it to the campground and we camped on the trail. [sans pizza -Scott]