June 18th – Spanish Needle Creek to South Fork Kern River

Luckily, we had no bear visitors overnight. The night was actually quite uneventful and we both agreed we had a great campsite. We had a big climb first thing in the morning. Luckily, our packs were quite light since we had eaten most of our food. Had to bring a bit of water, but only had about 13 miles until the next water source.

Cruised up our first climb which seemed steep to me – but maybe it was due to not being warmed up. My calf muscle was feeling really tight so it made for a painful climb.

Saw another rattlesnake – this time a little one right in the middle of the trail. Tom just took a trekking pole and moved if off the trail. It rattled a little bit, but fortunately it slithered away without much ado.

Much of the hike was through burned out areas – making for a sunny, hot, exposed day with not great scenery. I was having a hard time with my calf muscle, lots of climbing, and not much scenery. Tom was sweet and picked me a bouquet of wildflowers to cheer me up. Worked like a charm. I have such a great husband!

Made it further than we thought – all the way to the South Fork of the Kern River. It was fantastic to finally see running water again. We were in heaven. The perfect place to end the evening.