Matthews Creek CG to Trail Creek CG Day 3
The weather prediction shows high temps for today, so start early, planning to stop for siesta at Shadow Creek before pushing on to tonight's destination of Trail Creek Campground.
I marvel at the views of the North Fork and I make good time to Shadow Creek finding the promised shade, but the creek is not very exiting to me, and my attempts to follow rough old roads toward the Salmon River all end in poison oak dead ends. My map shows a couple of side roads heading toward the river further along, and recalling yesterday's huge success with the side road, I decide to push on hoping for another Epic Swim Hole Afternoon.
All the side roads on the map turn out to be private. One has a for sale sign, and I have a fun time imagining buying it and starting a retreat center with Micah, Noah, Anais, and Monica. The steep climbs are separated by a few short descents, and I feel fine, looking forward to some stream crossings ahead now that the side roads have not panned out. But the streams are in culverts far beneath the road surrounded by poison oak and I run out of water around noon and the temperatures are getting uncomfortably hot. I start to lag as I come to an uninterrupted steep section, hard going.
Finally at some time after 1:30 the road crosses a tiny creek with an accessible bank. I stumble down with my filter and soon am re-hydrating in the much appreciated shade. Yesterday was my day to relish the mighty deep river, so today will be my opportunity to dig the cute little mountain stream. I drink for a while and then start the full body Dawn Soap poison oak scrub, just in case I brushed some in my exploring Shadow Creek. I start with the soap in the stream but catch myself and feel the shame of The Polluter, and move away from the stream using my filter dirty bag to haul water to finish the scrub. Then returning to the stream, repeat the full splash bath once more. In our last SoulWork group, Yahya led us in a ritual of splashing water on ourselves. In the cute little stream I repeat the ritual, wetting my feet, calves, knees, thighs, hips, sex, belly, arms, shoulders, chest, neck, head, telling myself to let go of preconceived notions of myself. The ritual becomes real. The road had been quite a fight, quite a furnace, was quickly turning into a threatening place, and here I am in this safe, cool place of rest and water.
By near 4:00 my body at last allows me to eat lunch, and soon after I return to the road. Still hot, but taking it slowly I arrive at Trail Creek Campground with ease, it was only a mile away. I tour all the sites and only one other is taken, so I take the second best site, setting up camp with efficiency as it is later than my normal camp time. I explore down to the river and discover a most excellent swim hole for the morning. I do some writing and am quickly asleep.