But Bear Creek was so low it was just a rock hop!

We heard from other hikers that the mosquitoes at Bear Creek were terrible. So we suited up.

But the swarms never appeared and soon we removed our headnets and stripped back down to shorts.

We stopped for lunch at a great one-tent campsite along the river. Finder and I “swam” (by which we mean we dunked and got the hell out as quickly as possible!).

After Bear Creek we had a very tough afternoon climb over Bear Ridge. Half Cookie listened to some tunes to do the last mile.

We all stopped at the one spot where there was much of a view.

Then we started a long climb down to Mono Creek. You can’t see Lake Edison from the trail, but Finder and I climbed up on a nearby rock to take a look.

We then finished the descent and stumbled on what might have been our nicest, warmest campsite of the trip, nestled between a rock wall and Mono Creek. There was hardly a bug in sight, even though the creek bubbled musically nearby.

Another group came by later and seemed disappointed to find us already camped there!