July 08, 2008 Pacific Crest Trail

Destination: Near Highway 4, Ebbits Pass
Miles: 24

Adrian:
We saw our first wild bear this afternoon. He was a small one and somewhat curious. I spotted him when he was moving uphill about 40 yards away. He saw us and stared, never running away nor coming towards us. We watched for a minute and then kept walking.

The past couple days we've been in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. For a very small amount of time, we were also in the Emigrant Wilderness. These tracts of land are protected from all motor vehicles and stock, except for pack animals. The crowds in these areas are much less dense as in the parks to the south, and the scenery just as impressive.

The snow on all the passes around here has mostly melted off, making crossings much easier and faster. Our ice axes are just dead weight in our packs. I'm glad we brought them eve though they were never used. We'll send them home from South Lake Tahoe, along with our bear canisters and fishing gear.

Moonpie is camped with us again and we saw Emily's Dad again. He got ahead of us and then took a couple weeks off to go home. It's great o see him again and to know he's still truckin' on.

Kirsten got a bit upset today when she couldn't tell exactly where we were in the data book. You see, it's a big thing for her to know how many miles we've come and how many more we need to go. When this isn't happening, she gets a bit unnerved. She says she's working on it :)