Day Two

19 mi & 3,300 ft. Up at 6:15 and had breakfast and packed by 7:30. The mountain top campground was enveloped in fog with visibility about 100 ft.

I hiked out at the south end and down the steep trail that would connect with the OHT. Unfortunately, I lost the trail almost immediately and ended up bush whacking a quarter mile down to the trail. once on the path I headed east along a ridgeline and dropped to Salt Fork Creek, after fording that it was a long climb out of the drainage and over the shoulder of a mountain.

A long decent diagonally down the mountain dropped me into the Spirits Creek drainage. The trail then followed the creek up a mile or so past multiple water falls coming over the cliffs of this valley. Quite pretty.

As I left the creek I noticed on the map there was a road that paralleled the trail at the top of the valley. To save my knees, which have been getting a workout, I decided to take the road.

The road was good graveled dirt and I made good time on it. It rose quite a bit higher than the trail, but with less elevation gain than the OHT, which goes up and down quite a lot.

Rain has been threatening all day and a big thunderstorm is heading my way tonight. It never did rain today, but the wind is up a lot with the whole forest waving like a chorus line.

I am camped in the lee of Whiting Mountain tonight well below the ridge and have my fingers crossed that will be sufficient to stay out of the brunt of the storm.

Until tomorrow, Happy Trails!