There we bumped into some of the local wildlife. Ever since I was bitten by a snake I could not identify about two years ago, I keep my distance.
Unfortunately, after we had climber several more hundred feet in elevation, we realized that staying overnight in the forest at elevation above 3500 ft was prohibited. We had to summit the mountain, and gown down the other side to just below 3500 ft, before we could start looking for a suitable camp site. Seeing how by this point we were utterly exhausted, we bushwhacked until we found a somewhat level spot free from undergrowth, and settled down for the night. I decided to not bother putting up a tarp. You can see my campsite in the picture. You are looking at two sleeping bags, each with a bivi, the two backpacks, and the little puppy sleeping by a tree (see if you can find her). We had a fire pit a bit out of the shot.
In the morning a call rose up for coffee. The emergency was large enough to necessitate the pulling out of the stove. It made quick work of the gallon of water.
Even though the night temperature dropped to about 40 F, I think this was one of the best nights I’ve spend in the woods in a while.
