8.9.18

We woke to a pale pink rose sunrise over the lake. It was gorgeous, but the clock said it was time to move. In usual fashion ChilliBin was out of camp by 5:45, Happy was off to take care of his morning business around the same time, and I was packing up in hopes to be on trail by 6. After a few miles of trekking I pulled over to talk to a tree about a dog and happy walks by my bag next to the trail and makes a good goat sound as he passes by. I return a call, finish my business, and get back to the trail. This was our morning routine, and it was funny how syncronized it all seemed.

I winded through thr forested hills. Some tuffs were covered in grass while others were made of jetting rocks. It was wounderful winding through them. The ponds from the day before continued to be on display trailside. I could tell thatt the ponds were rain water receptacles and there were no creeks feeding them. None that I could see at least.

Finally I caught back up to the gang as they were grabbing water from a creek. It was wounderfully cold and I filled my bottles. The next few miles meandered through a burn area and back into the forest before finally popping our to some nice good sized lakes.

We decided to take lunch lakeside, and it wasnt a dissapointment! Munching on, we chatted about the trail and the day, as well as our plans for the next few days. We finally pulled ourselves together and pressed on up a large hill that awaited us. Gotta pay the piper right?!

After the climb we popped out onto an open plain and 2 of the 3 sisters could be seen. There jetting rocky bodies towered over the surrounding area, treeless and rugged. I took them in with awe and my spirits were lefted. The next few miles melted away until finally I pulled ahead of the gang and happened upon the Obsidian Limited Area.

This very cool place required special permit (with exception to PCTers) where the Obsidean rock could be found littering the ground. I trekked on and in the distance the other follwed. Soon after finding some of this glass like rock and seeing how the Native Americans could have easily made weapons or tools from it, I turned a corner to find the Obsidian Falls.

It was gorgeous and all 3 of us couldnt help but getting in! The water was ice hold, but after the fridgid bite wore off the relief to the feet was incredible! WE took in the beautiful falls and finally pushed the last 2 miles to camp. It was a good long day, and once we made our camp we went through the nightly chores. The waterfall was a game changer, it really washed away any muscle fatigue of the day. Feeling clean and full we all found our way to bed!