I think we both slept pretty well. It was not cold. The Stellar Jays woke us up at 5:30 AM. They were right outside our tent and they were loud! We got out of bed, started packing up and making breakfast. There were mosquitoes! They were not biting yet, but they were quite annoying. Especially because there are not supposed to be mosquitoes right now. That’s why I go hiking in April and early May in the first place. Journey enjoyed exploring all around the large campsite area in the morning. The previous day she did not really do that because she was too tired.
We left at about 8AM. As soon as I put her pack on and we started hiking, she started going really, really slow, and acting like she do not wanna hike at all. I was sure the pack was not rubbing against her legs like it did last time. But maybe it was? Something was wrong. Was it pinching her somehow? She was not really acting like she was in pain or anything, just that she did not want to hike. I decided to carry the pack for her. At least it was all downhill from here. I think we’re gonna have to try a different pack for her next time.
It was a cloudy day with a storm coming in the afternoon. This made it easy to get to the lower falls in good light. It’s a steep descent down to the bottom of the waterfall but Journey and I made it without difficulty. There was a lot of mist at the bottom making it difficult to take photos. Lower Granite Creek was flowing tremendously. It is a cool little waterfall. I measured it to be 20 ft. high but it seemed more than that.
I took a fall. I stepped on a log. It looked to be dry. It was not. I slipped and fell hard on my shoulder. It could have broken but thankfully it did not; nonetheless I was in pain for quite a few days. I lay on the ground for about five minutes trying to recover. Journey was like: what are you doing on the ground, daddy? Let’s get going! That is quite ironic because she was stopping to sniff every other bush on the way down the hill.
We made it back to the car and drove home. Trip two is over. It was a fantastic backpacking trip with Journey into the Trinity Alps Wilderness.
