July 14th

Bridge Over Rock Creek

We get up at 0530 in the morning and are out the door at 0615. Golfer comes to pick us up and we drive back to the trailhead. We find a place for him to park his car a short way up a nearby jeep road, out of sight of the highway. We begin hiking at 0705, an early start for us. The trail starts out pretty flat as we hike through the forest, past the Burney Falls State Park area, and above Lake Britton. We cross the Lake Britton Dam and begin a climb that goes on for over 3 miles. We come to a wooden bridge over Rock Creek which has a nice place for a break prior to the bridge. We do just that enjoying the shade and the sounds of the creek.

On the Way to Upper Jake Spring

                        As we continue on, it starts to get hotter. We make it to Upper Jake Spring at 1230 and it becomes not only our water filling station but our lunch spot as well. After filtering our water and having lunch, it is time to move on. We only have 5 miles or so to go to our planned camp for the evening. The heat is definitely on even though we have already gained over a 1000 feet of elevation from where we started. The forest with its tree cover helps lower the temperature a few degrees. We meet a thru hiker who goes by the name of Mr. Brightside. Our day closes, as we reach Peavine Creek which is flowing nicely. It is around 5:30 PM and I entertain the idea of going a bit further today. The site here looks like hard ground, is a bit buggy, and who knows what else. The girls want to camp here and I will let you guess who wins this debate. We did a good days mileage at 15.2 miles averaging 2.6 mph while walking. Our high point for the day was 5,032 feet and we are camped at 4,751 feet. Hopefully that makes for a cool enough night. Time for dinner and bed.