S. Fork San Joguin - Bear Creek 7/3/10 18.2 miles

Great day. We got up and ate our little bit of breatkfast and got on the trail aroug 7:15am. We took a break and met The Stumbling Norwegian. He videoed us and gave us some good advice. We said we were short on food and he reassured us that some section hikers had just dropped some food there. So happy to hear this we almost ran to the Ranch four miles away. We pulled into the ranch, a beautiful but modest outpost. They do alot of hiker resuppplies. We met an old lady named Pat that showed us the Hiker Box selection and she was so happy to see us, GOLDMINE. We got enough food for today, tommarrow and some more to make up for the last few days of rationing. HAHA. We ate our free lunch right there, Spaghetti Moutain House. SO SO good after sharing Ramen noodles for the last 2 days. There was so much we got some extras for the next leg out of VVR, Cliff Bars, and 2 big bags of trail mix(we already finished one today though). Refreshed we had a pretty brutal climb out of the valley to Selden Pass. We took a break at some beautiful lakes and ate and ate then headed up the pass. The easiest one yet it was still slow going because of the snow. Cold toes and full bellies we continued on to try to make a short day tommarrow into Vermillion Valley Resort. We are so excited after 7 days in the woods. We got to Bear Creek Crossing, one of the bigger ones, and did it! It had a rope across it to hold onto but we both managed to wobble and about loose it. haha. We both laughed. We set up camp and got out of our wet clothes. Had another Mountain House Meal, Stroganoff, not as good as Moms but pretty good for out here. Going to bed feels good to be thawing out after the creek crossing and snow. Vermillion Valley Resort for the 4th of July, Can't Wait. Nine miles tommarrow and a nap while we wait for the ferry to pick us up. Real Food Soon!!!! - CM