I’m camped maybe a couple miles south of Minto Pass on a rare wooded flat in the middle of a large burn. I would have liked to a spot on Three Finger Jack with a vew but didn’t feel like hiking late again. I’m at mile 2007 so I guess I only did about 13 miles. That’s OK though because there were a lot of ups and downs and a lot of burned country to get through. I took lots of breaks, ate a lot of food, and soaked my feet at least a couple or more times. It looks a lot different than the last time I was here.

Sixteen years ago I was here doing a pleasant three-night loop of this country when the B&B Fire erupted. I cut that hike short by a day and got the hell out of there. I’ll have to look up the exact date. (Looked it up: The B&B fire began—to the day—19 August 2003 and I evacuated on 20 August.)

Both sides of Minto Pass are very badly burned. The area has been very slow to recover as is the Puzzle Fire area to the north. The area around Rockpile was spared. Oh, but the huckleberries are pretty darned tasty around Minto Pass! Last night up by Shale it got really cold and damp. The tent got pretty wet inside and out. Tonight’s spot looks much drier and pretty breezy too. Bugs shouldn’t be a problem. Tomorrow should be fun as I finally get to hike across the west face of Three Finger Jack. And I’ll get to do it in the morning shade. I only have 13 mostly easy miles to Big Lake.