Staying Cool on the Stuart Fork

It has been a busy few weeks and I have lots to catch you up on. Here's part 2 of our trip to the Trinity Alps. I'm shooting for a post a day, so check back often. :)

After a full day of roasting myself in the triple digit heat, I wanted to pull the plug on this adventure. The heat had won. Instead of retreating back home in the early morning hours, Matt talked me into one more run before we raced for the coastal fog.

The trail we settled on was one I remember backpacking during our first fall in California. The entire trip, a phrase echoed in my head: this would be awesome to run. The gentle upward slope that traced the banks of the Trinity River's Stuart Fork made for an exceptional trail run. The narrow canyon swiftly meandered skyward and was surprisingly cool. Not much sunshine makes it down here for the day. Even though he didn't realize it, this was the key to Matt's evil plan of getting me to stay. Twelve miles later, we returned to the trailhead as most of the day hikers were just arriving.

Still buzzing off of my morning runner's high and still relatively cool temperatures, we took a cooling dip in the river, cooked up some Jiffy Pop, and had some lemonade. Why are car camping foods so delicious!?

We parked ourselves at a new campsite and settled in for the afternoon. We alternated dips in the river with reading chapters from our book. Soon, we were through the hottest part of the day and the other hikers disappeared. We enjoyed the solitude of the swimming hole and the gently changing light as day turned to night.

We built a fire and had gooey s'mores. I had to spoon a melted Ghiradelli square onto my graham cracker and then it all practically dissolved into my mouth.

What started out as a day of frustration turned into a pretty relaxing time. Sometimes just hanging with Matt is a lot of fun too.... I guess. :)