Last night as we were dropping off to sleep we heard some crashing about in the bush just outside our tent. It turned out to be a couple of hikers looking for a tent space. Unfortunately for them, we had taken the only available flat area, so they ended up sleeping on the nearby footbridge. The track continued to be quite overgrown.

We walked about 12 miles into the small village of Seiad Valley. On the way we saw a young buck (we have seen quite a few does).

Fortunately the general store and Cafe were open even though it was a public holiday as OG needed to collect a new pair of shoes that he had posted to the store. We enjoyed a lunch at the Cafe, then set out again, climbing more than 5000′ up into the mountains. It was a gruelling climb in the hot sun, but fortunately we could replenish our water from a spring on the way up.

Now we are camped it is quite windy and probably will be a cool night.

We managed 22 miles which we were pleased with considering the steep climb and the two and a half hours we spent in town.