Day 63 - 2nd June - Sarver Hollow Shelter to Trout Creek - 14.9 miles

Hard walking along a rocky ridge followed by a long descent, and then another climb to a mountain range with a war memorial at the top to Audie Murphy, the most decorated US soldier in the WW2. It is quite spooky to be at the memorial. There is a 4WD road which has been put in to enable VIPs to reach the top. An old US flag is there, and lots of plastic flowers.

The descent is steep and we reach a small creek with a bridge and several 'holiday homes' which are rustic cabins, with nobody around.We decide to stop here to camp so that we can wash some clothes and have a bit of a wash and a paddle.

Ugly Tuna arrives and decides to join us. As he crosses the bridge one of the hikers - a young girl with red hair who is waiting for her friends to arrive - has a dog - who decides to attack Ugly Tuna on the bridge. His voice echoes out - 'Madam, control your dog! Control your dog!' Madam immediately takes the necessary steps to control her dog and Ugly Tuna crosses in safety. His words ring in our ears and a few days later I find myself repeating the same words, different scenario.

Unfortunately her friends - a group of young hikers, including Grizzly who we had met a week ago decide to make this their base to regroup, and cook dinner and we have their unwelcome noisy present until about 9pm when they finally decide to depart to hike at night and climb the Dragon's Tooth.