Interesting day today. I finished off Crocker Mountain, north and south peaks as well as Lone Mountain and Spaulding Mountain earlier. The trail skirted around the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain and ski area. Today ends over 10,000 feet elevation gain and over 12,000 elevation loss since Spruce Mountain and the four ponds area, a 45 mile stretch.

The big excitement for today was the forest fire. An hour and nine minutes after meeting a sitting hiker on the trail, I encountered his hiking companions. They were at the smokey spot of a fire. It had burned the forest floor duff for a day or two. The four to six inch deep burn scar covered approximately 15-20 feet and contained within it's boundary a few scorched hot dogs and buns. Some idiots had built their fire on duff and not the dirt. Then they had not put the fire out and it smoldered.

The fire department was alerted by some southbounders who partially stamped out the small fire. I waited with them until the fire crew showed up. As it was a little late we decided to hitch into Stratton. I need stove fuel so I have to stop anyway.

The six of us got a ride from a guy in a pickup with an ATV in the bed. That was crowded—six hikers, six packs, and a 4 wheeler. He even gave us half a pizza to eat during the 60 mph ride. We lost a few toppings to the wind though.

For the night, three of us stayed at the White Wolf and the remainder went back with Ken, our hitch, to his cabin.