I left the campground near the North Fork Ranger Station a little after 7. The morning started off with the trail winding through green mountains, with a patchy ceiling of clouds. Then, the trail dropped nearly 2,000 feet into the valley between mountains, containing the (tiny) Santa Clara River.
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I got started on the trail a bit after 6:30, I think my earliest start so far. I went flying down the first four miles of the trail today, all downhill, to the first water source of the day at the Pony Park Day Use Area.
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Not only did I wake up before sunrise today, I was actually out of my tent before sunrise as well. I got everything packed up and started hiking right at 7 am, and got half a mile before I realized I didn’t have my sunglasses.
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By the time I got out of my tent, everyone else I had camped with had left for the day. This was not a surprise to me, but I figured I would catch up with them far sooner than I did. Leaving camp a bit before 8, I made my way down the the trail, which started off relatively flat, before turning into a somewhat steep downhill heading towards the intersection with CA 2 at Islip Saddle.
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Despite a casual and very late start, today was a pretty hard day, featuring a couple of really steep climbs with a pack fully loaded with food. But, I’ve now summited Mt. Baden-Powell, so I can check that off my to-do list.
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