I left my Grizzly Gulch camp at 7:30 and ascended a pass and then followed the magnificent Chinese Wall.  Just Wow!  Way more impressive pictures can convey. I watched a hawk or eagle soar along the wall while eating lunch.  I also had a break with the company of a buck deer with velvet.  I was sitting at the southern pass eating when the buck came out of the bushes looking at me.  I turned away and continued eating like I didn’t care.  It came within 30 feet of me browsing on grass.  For at least 5 minutes I felt like I had some company, which was nice.

Later on I had all the company I wished for as a herd of SOBOS passed me going the other way. Not all at once but spread out throughout the day.  I tried to talk to them all unless they acted uninterested.  I can’t remember all their names, but I do remember Bob, Vortex, Big Feather (nice older guy), Monte, Nips (nice younger guy), Wilder (awesome guy I met in New Mexico), Wingo (super nice older guy), Gaucho (pleasant guy about my age from Santa Rosa), Animal and Townie (nice younger couple), Smiles (very nice girl who fits her name), Fuzz (quiet guy with frizzy hair), Everest (very dark Indian dude), Joe Dirt and Sampson the Bear (two super nice guys), Obama and his wife Morning Glory (Obama saw me slip and fall and made sure I was Ok), Meridith and Southbound (nice younger couple), Seeker, Flamin (girl), and Newt.  All nice and very fun to talk to!

I fell 3 times today.  Two of them were hard falls where I ended up flat on the ground.  The 3rd was kind of an uncontrolled sit.  These were all caused by slipping on the mud and snow in the steep terrain.  Speaking of mud, the constant rain here has turned large portions of the trail to slick mud.  However, today was beautiful and the mud is finally starting to dry out.

The Spotted Bear alternate follows the side of a steep, very thick and overgrown forest above the Spotted Bear river. Numerous creeks and springs flow across the trail making it quite wet and beautiful. This appears to be prime bear habitat as I’ve seen numerous bear droppings on the trail.

The trail eventually descended to the bottom of the valley where I finally found a campsite near the river. This is the only slightly open spot for miles and I feel lucky to find it. I do feel very alone here though. I haven’t seen any other hikers since taking the alternate many miles ago and the thick wet vegetation and all the bear sign is making me slightly uneasy. But hey – it is time to eat and sleep and I’m always ready for that!