The Foothills Trail Day 3

From Whitewater Camp to the Stealth Site Beyond Bear Camp

We hadn’t been able to fill up on water before arriving at camp the night before, so after packing up we walked a bit down the trail to the first water crossing where we refilled our bladders and made some food. Minutes later, a father and his two sons came down to join us. We chatted briefly, but soon parted ways. Before heading back down the trail, I packed our breakfast in a cozy spot and clipped it to my husband’s backpack. When the timer rang, we ate the rehydrated breakfast on the go, passing the bag and fork between us.

I have always found it difficult to judge the appropriate amount of food to bring on a backpacking trip, even on short weekend trips. Sometimes I succeed, but this time I packed too much. As I mentioned in my last publicationI had set a conservative six-day itinerary, but it was becoming clear that we could finish the hike early, so I already had an extra day of unnecessary food. Then there was the complication that neither of us were very hungry. We often shared breakfast and also a dinner, which meant that our food bags, and therefore our backpacks, didn’t get much lighter as we moved up the trail.

feet photos

…it’s a joke! Do you think I would publish them for free?

My husband really picked up the pace this day, apparently feeling stronger and with only slight tightness in his calves. I felt good too… except for my feet. Despite the care I had taken the night before and the new shoes and socks, I developed blisters on the edges of my heels and big toes. I knew my feet would be in much worse shape if I had braved repeated stream fordings, but fortunately, virtually every trickle of water on the trail is crossed by a bridge. (There are also a lot of stairs, as you will see in some photos). In addition to helping my feet stay dry up to this point, we rarely carried more than a liter of water unless we were heading to camp for the night.

Midway!

After finishing our stop with a snack, we headed up the hill, rounded a bend, and were surprised to realize that we had reached the halfway point. That’s when I started to believe that we could finish the tour faster than expected. As we navigated seemingly endless PUDs, I mentally reviewed the itinerary and tried to plot out new campsites for the final two nights. It’s not that we weren’t having a good time, but the prospect of one or two more days relaxing at home before Monday was becoming irresistible.

We passed our originally planned campsite, Bear Camp, mid-afternoon. I was glad we decided to push a few more miles to a stealthy spot, but I was also hoping to set up camp in daylight and have a few minutes to decompress before going to bed.

The campsite was a tight circle behind a stand of young white pines on the edge of a bank where the trail made a sharp turn back to the ridge. I scanned it carefully for drops and window makers, pleased to find no looming concerns. There was only one acceptable option for hanging the bears and after savoring a hot dinner, we carefully picked up our food and settled in for what we thought would be a quiet night.

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