I am at Clear Creek, been here perhaps 20-30 minutes now. I’ve been looking for a campsite but the best one is taken. I met some guys going out who said this other party would be leaving today as well so I picked the second best site and will wait them out. Unfortunately they are no where to be seen at the moment but the site is full of gear. They must be off day hiking somewhere.

The wind last night finally let up a little shortly after dusk. There were still some strong gusts from time to time but at least the frequency diminished. It is very windy over here right now and I hope it c alms down a little as the day progresses. The wind is another reason to not set up the tent right now.

I don’t even know what time I left camp this morning. I didn’t bring a watch on this trip so my only time pieces are my digital camera and GPS. I woke up around 4:30 and didn’t start breaking camp until 5:30 or so. By the time I had breakfast and packed everything up it was probably about 6:30. I didn’t get to the camp site I had originally intended to use until 7:30 so it’s a good thing I stopped where I did last night. There were no other good places to camp in between.

Walking around over here I find it amazing how much this area changes from visit to visit. I didn’t have much time to check things out when I was here in 2003 because we were in late one day and out early the next morning. The waterfall that was here when I was here with Robin in 2001 is gone now though and the creek is now following a course along the southern cliff face. The channel that the creek is cutting just gets deeper and deeper. I remember my first couple of visits here when the access to upper Clear Creek was blocked with a jumble of huge boulders and getting through them and the swampy area behind was a real challenge. One year a flash flood took all of those boulders away. Those boulders probably used to act as a check-valve for the creek and now that they are gone it runs through here unhindered.

12:30 - Camp Sweet Camp

I finally decided to just keep this campsite and set up the tent. There is still no sign of the other party and if they are going out today it is going to be late.

Setting up the tent was interesting and I hope it will stay up. The wind gusts here have been incredible. I managed to get the tent pegs into the ground for the most part and then capped them with very heavy rocks. I even put heavy rocks inside the tent at each of the four corners. It seems to be holding up so far. It’s actually pretty remarkable if you could see this wind. I wish I had some way to measure it.

Another problem is the sand that is being carried by the wind. It’s everywhere. It’s so fine it blows right through the mesh in the door and gets trapped inside. I hope this isn’t long term or I don’t think I will be staying here for five days.

14:00 - Neighbors

The party next to me, 3 guys, came back so I went over to say hello. It turns out they are not leaving today so it’s good that I didn’t wait.

I took a short hike down Clear Creek to where East Clear Creek branches off and that’s where I am now. I just wanted to do a little something other than sit at camp all day. The creek is really nothing like I remembered it. The place I was looking to stop at, some nice ledges right along the creek, apparently does not exist any longer. It’s amazing how this place changes---a lot of erosion going on through here.

I had lunch before leaving camp and discovered I was short on some of the little summer sausages I picked up at Phantom Ranch. I was apparently supposed to buy 6 but I only bought 4. Don’t know how that happened. One is no big deal because it was for lunch on the day I leave here. Now I am going straight back to Phantom anyway so I will get one when I get back there. Since my last 3 meals are at Phantom now I should be able to work this out.

18:30 - Evening

Right now I am not such a happy camper. This wind refuses to let up and unless it does soon it could be a most unpleasant evening. There is sand everywhere and inside of everything... including my eyes, ears and mouth. I am used to some sand in the tent on these trips but I’ve got dunes growing in here now. The wind has really cooled things down too and it should be a lot warmer down here.

Dinner was unappetizing but edible at least. I need to pay closer attention to the cooking directions of these meals before buying them. Tonight’s meal was chicken pot pie and required different heating times for the potato and gravy portions and then you were supposed to serve the gravy over the potatoes. It was not possible for me to do this since I didn’t bring any plates so I just mixed everything in one bag. It was not what I expected.

I am having some anxiety (not the good kind) over tomorrow’s Deva Temple climb, especially if this wind does not let up. I may have to cancel that or switch things around.

Everything should be okay with the missing sausages. One was supposed to be for dinner my last night anyway... and it still can be since I will be at Phantom. I can shift lunch for the last day to cover the other one and then just get something for lunch at the ranch when I get there. I am hoping to be out of here by 6:00 when I head back so I should be back at the ranch right around noon. Another option is to check out the meals that people leave behind at the ranger station and see if anything appeals to me for dinner.