Day 4 Journal: Cliff near nowhere
Monday 10/3/05
We woke to the sound of goats coming up the hill toward us. As we got up and around from a windy, noisy night, they had made it to our front door and were quite interested in us. Thankfully they moved along and by 9:30 a.m. we had eaten breakfast (dry, cheese omelets) and packed to go.
The trail headed uphill for about two to three hours. It was tough opening to a beautiful day. The sky cleared and the sun shone as we trekked over rugged, rocky terrain. The view was astounding. Ang kept singing “How Great Thou Art” as the view got better and better. The trail was pretty well marked, and we only had to use the GPS a couple of times to bail us out.
Around the first powerlines we had an especially hard time. We’ll have to write the trail guide lady (Kate Clow) about that spot. We saw two or three shepherds’ huts of rock and sticks. They had not been used in a while. The first two-thirds of the hike today was over almost barren terrain, but finally we made it into a cedar forest. Jeff has never seen such a place. The trees were big. Some of the large ones were crooked at the base — we aren’t sure why.
The trail wandered around quite a bit, but we arrived at a well about 6 p.m. This was the must find of the day. There was only about six inches of water in the bottom. A make shift ladder (a tree with a few limbs on one side and nailed at the top) was available, but Ang refused to let Jeff descend. It was about 25 feet deep with steep rock walls. Climbing out would have been hard, if the tree had broken. So as Ang hummed the MacGyver theme song, Jeff fashioned a hydroseal bag with a rope through two sides and put a rock in the bottom to fish for water. The bag was too tall to go completely under, but by pulling up and roping the top Jeff scooped it one-third full four or five times and retrieved about two quarts of water. We treated it with the Miox and walked to the end of the road we were on to camp with a beautiful view of Lake Egridir to the East. Jeff can’t wait for the sun rise.
We started a fire and had dinner beside it. We also had freeze dried ice cream for dessert. It was a pleasant end to a great day. It’s a little cool, but we are huddled in our sleeping bags in our tent. Ready for bed at 9 p.m. What a blessing.
— Jeff
