HST2

And on the right, I'm cooling my overheated feet in a delightfully chilly stream pool. This was a sweet spot, there was a nice flat rock shelf running along this creek. Perfect for sitting.

Below is Buck Creek's canyon. It was really lovely, and we could see some hikers heading up into it. But we'd had to descend to cross it, and I knew all too well that we had to go back up the other side.

We trudged on, but the Long Beach crew soon left us in the dust and we were alone again. Finally, we arrived at 9-Mile Creek. It didn't offer too much in the way of campsites, but we didn't care.

There was only one other group there, another couple. We said a quick hello, then trekked up a small rise and found a suitable spot on the north side of the trail. Dinner was Mountain High's 3-Cheese Lasagna (good, except the tomatoes really didn't reconstitute well). When we realized that we were being devoured by exceptionally aggressive mosquitoes (I had a quarter-sized welt on my forehead), we called it a day and went to bed just about sunset.

After determining that the mosquitoes had given up, we lumbered out of bed and got ready to start out again. Today's goal was Hamilton Lakes, and we knew from the map that we would have a tough time (OK, that *I* would have a tough time) getting there.

The morning was beautiful, cool and bright, and since it was a Sunday morning, we passed a lot of overnighters coming back from Bearpaw Meadows. We passed an older couple taking a water break, and I looked with envy at their small overnight packs.

The trail turned down, and we found ourselves walking across a rocky creekbed. The map told us we were at Buck Creek. There was a nice canyon heading upstream, and Buck Creek was running strong. We crossed the small wooden bridge and began dragging ourselves up the steep section of trail that would take us to Bearpaw Meadow.