Etna – NOBO 1599

This post is from August 21, 2020.

GPS tracking details of this day’s hike can be found at:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/5435623902

I hiked almost 19 miles today and have arrived at some real civilization.  I’m very much looking forward to cold beer, chips, icing my ankles, posting my blog, big steak and some more cold beer.

I took these two shots when I emerged from my tent in the morning and it was sunrise on the ridge top:

I was hiking this morning by 6:40 a.m.  The terrain was significantly more difficult today so my pace was slower than it’s been and I got more fatigued than I have been.  There were, though, some fantastic views this morning:

In the picture below, if you look down into the valley , you can see a blue gray haze.  This is from the Salmon/Red-Complex forest fire that has been burning for a long time. I can smell the smoke a little bit, but the fire is many, many miles away from me and doesn’t pose any danger to me physically other than the bad air.

More morning views:

Here are some more views as I descended down into the Etna Summit trailhead where I will be picked up by somebody from the motel I’m staying in in Etna.  There is cell phone coverage 2 miles before reaching that trailhead so I can call and coordinate that pick-up:

I have been observing cow pies for several days now on the trail, but I’ve seen no cows. I was about 2 miles from the trailhead descending rapidly and, frankly, walking in somewhat of a daze when part of my brain heard a cowbell.  Sometimes I hear things that I don’t recognize and usually if I don’t hear them again I put them down to just nothing, imagination, whatever.  But now with full attention I did hear the cowbell again and I knew what I was hearing.  I looked up and there was a small group of cows, one of which was wearing a big Swiss style cow bell!

Here’s a shot of me at the end of the day at the trail head waiting for my ride:

This is my elevation profile for today: