Miles hiked: 25.9.
It stayed smokey all night, and then around 3 this morning it clouded up completely and by the time I was packing at 5:15 it sprinkled on me a bit. And that was pretty much how the whole day went. Smokey. Cloudy. Sprinkles.
Smells like a campfire around here.
The trail continued following a ridge called the Scott Mountains, which I guess is one of the main spines in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The ridge runs east-west, and I was mostly on the south side of it, looking out through the haze at steep mountains I really would have liked to see better. I passed through an area with a bunch of cows, jangling around with their bells. About 20 of them commenced a minor stampede as I walked through, and if you've never seen a bunch of beef cows thundering down a rocky 40-degree slope at somewhere near top speed, bellowing and kicking up dust and with their big guts bouncing taughtly, it really is a sight to behold, something not to be missed if you ever have the opportunity. A little later I also saw what I'm pretty sure were Ruffed Grouse, looking smaller than the Sooties and some with a reddish tint and a hint of a little crest.
The trail continued along what seemed like the same ridge after crossing hwy 93, but now it was called the Salmon Mountains. There was a bit of thunder and some actual rain as I climbed gradually up, and I hid under some trees for 10 minutes while things calmed down. The rain was great not only because it kept things cool, but also because it washed some of the smoke out of the air and I could see farther than a couple miles. I walked along steep-sided hills above bottom-less seeming smoke-filled canyons and below rocky peaks of uncertain geology.
Soon I came to the boundary of the Russian Wilderness and the trail sidehilled high along the steep side of the deep, dramatic South Russian Creek canyon that is protected as part of the Klamath Wild and Scenic River and rivals many places in the Sierra. Unfortunately the smoke was re-thickening and by the time I'd walked the 4 mile length of the canyon I couldn't see back where I'd started. This area has burned sometime in the last few years and the trail passes through areas where most of the trees and even some manzanita survived, and also areas where everything burned. It was like some sort of forest apocalypse in the fully burned areas, with just the black trunks and the orange sunlight barely filtering through the smoke.
I had siesta about 23 miles into the day, which was a bit later than normal since there wasn't a good place along the steep canyon. I ate the last of my cheese, now a bit moldy (90 degree days and 80 degree nights is pushing the limits for cheese) then had a quick nap.
I ended up just going another 3ish miles after siesta, because it the next at least 6 miles are along a narrow ridge and I'm not sure there will be anywhere to camp, and I didn't want to do another 30+ mile day. I probably should have just done my normal number of miles both yesterday and today and ended up at the same place, rather than doing a bit too much on he rocky trail yesterday and hurting some today.
I had a leisurely evening with a swim in the lake and a slow dinner and a bit of laundry (probably won't be dry in the morning). Right before dark SHEnanigans showed up, which was sort of reassuring because I hadn't seen another thru hiker all yesterday or today, just a few section and day hikers. I was starting to think something had happened to all the thrus.
Birds:
Oregon Junco
Rock Wren
Sooty Grouse
Fox Sparrow
Mountain Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Steller's Jay
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Ruffed Grouse
Northern Flicker
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
American Robin
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