Day 6 was our longest hike yet. In fact, we were in such a hurry that I don't have pictures of this day. We chose to stop just before the road to Trout Lake because we wanted plenty or time to hitch into town and eat and relax before staying the night there. So we hiked 18 miles stopping at Trout Lake creek. We got up early but took our time packing up camp. There was a beautiful bald eagle sitting atop a tree on a small island in the middle of the lake and we watched it hunt for fish for a while. Then we took off.
Hiking was smooth through the valley and we made great time, especially when the mosquitoes started bugging us. They were by no means terrible but they were a strong incentive to move quickly! There were lakes and ponds everywhere and it was a nice cool morning. Rounding one corner, we startled a pair of elk who quickly ran away through the underbrush.
Before we knew it, we were out of Indian Heaven Wilderness and heading along a warm field of bear grass. At this point, it was hot and uncomfortable and we chose to push hard to get to our site. We made it there quickly and were quite proud of ourselves but quite tired. Laura chose to cook dinner while I set up camp... and misfortune struck. In a tired stupor, Laura put her hand over the flame of our Jetboil stove. I was really concerned because those stoves are made to be hot, boiling water in minutes. Luckily we were next to a mountain stream. I took care of dinner and insisted that she sit with her hand in the water until it was numb. So she took a rest and soaked her hand. The cool mountain water did the trick! She had no pain the next day!
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