I woke up at my normal time, around 06:00, got up to go to bathroom and then got back into the tent. I was in no real hurry today and just lay back down and read for about an hour. I got up again around 07:30 for breakfast and then started breaking down camp, sorting gear and packing things up. At 09:45 I was out of camp and by 10:20 I was back up on the Tonto. At 10:30 I met a couple of guys day hiking to Clear Creek from Sumner Wash - they would be camping there with me tonight and said they were camped right in the wash.

By 11:10 it was starting to get very warm and I found a good spot of shade to take a long rest in. I was still in no hurry to get to Sumner Wash and was hoping to be there between 16:00 and 17:00. It was probably no more than 5 miles away so I would stop in any shade I could find along the way. At 11:40 I was moving again. At 11:55 I passed by my Thursday night campsite and at 12:05 I passed through Zoroaster Canyon.

I met a guy on the other side of Zoroaster who was looking for his "buddy" and asked me if I had seen him. I told him about the other two guys, who were the only other people I had seen since leaving Clear Creek, and that I didn't think he wasn't up ahead. He seemed confused over this but I didn't know what else to tell him.

At 12:55 I passed Demaray Point and met another guy on the other side who was also looking for his "buddy". I told him he was about a mile ahead of him. I suspect they somehow got separated in the drainage just west of Demaray Point as the trail heads up the wash in there for a while before ascending the east bank and coming back out onto the Tonto. They had a lot of distance between them though so this second guy must have really gone wrong.

At 13:10 I found a good shade rock and stopped for a rest. I figured on maybe only 2 more miles to Sumner Wash. My stomach wasn't feeling too good though so I decided to skip lunch. At 13:30 I was moving again.

At 15:00 I reached Sumner Wash and started looking for a campsite. I had seen a tent in the wash from some distance away but I never saw it when I passed through the wash itself. There was a little knoll on the west side of the drainage that was still in the Clear Creek Use Area so I decided to take a look on top. The view from the top was great and there was a small campsite up there but it was too small for a tent. I headed back down to the trail and found another site just off of it that had to be right on the Use Area boundary. That's where I decided to stay and at 15:20 I had my camp established. I found some shade in some low cliffs to the north of the trail, below Sumner Butte, to wait out the afternoon. I read some, took some more photos and just relaxed. I knew that the next day would be a killer. From here to the south rim was a long haul and mostly up hill. I had to make sure I got an early start.

I ended up eating lunch for dinner as I did not feel like wasting water to cook with and then clean up. It was a dry camp after all. I delayed dinner until sunset and climbed back up on top of the knoll to watch the sun go down over the western canyon. It was a magnificent sight to behold - almost a religous experience. The moon was also already pretty high up in the east, above the Redwall cliffs, and only about one night away from full. It would be a very bright night.

When I got into the tent for the night I was alarmed to discover numerous sharp rocks beneath it. I obviously had not cleared the site before setting up the tent and it was too late to do anything about it now. The ground cloth should protect the tent but I did not want to risk my inflatible ThermaRest. It was a very hard night for sleeping though the sleeping bag cusioned me from the rocks for the most part.

I smelt smoke during the night and thought it must be coming from the lodges up on the rim.