Hiked to three mile. Nice clouds in the morning with sunbeams and all. Picked up a bottle, a pocket full of paper.

Suffering an eye infection, but it is finally getting better. Had to "dope" my eye six times on the way out. Met Karen, volunteer PSAR and helped hassle hikers for a while. "Going to the River and back? Starting at 9:30? Where would you like the body buried?"

Discussed the guy who wants to reduce his possessions to 100 total. Maybe if I didn't have to count books. So how many packs, as an example, does one woman need? Fanny pack, racing pack, day-and-a-half pack (guide pack), overnight pack, week-long pack, computer pack for school...apparently six. Worse yet, I have five tents and I never sleep in a tent.

Number one son and I drove to the Great Sand Dunes where he managed to bring back most of one dune in his clothes. Thence to Buena Vista to visit friends, and then Arches to mess around in the desert. I have a nasty eye infection, so we couldn't hike as much as we wanted (well, as much as I wanted).

It was cold this morning: 45, so we hiked down the Hermit to Santa Maria for a change. Picked up a bag of nasty trash at the reptile tracks. But the light was very nice for pictures of said tracks.

Lilo Pizo, no one cares that you hiked to Santa Maria. And the Squirt Bottle of Retribution has erased your puny efforts at immortality.

Also saw a huge fossil fern which we moved off the trail so it doesn't get stepped on or stolen.

Told one gal it was too hot to hiked below Santa Maria and she laughed. I wonder if she's laughing now that it's over 80 on the rim and 100 in the bottom?

Had a Meet the Canyon yesterday and the Bighorn mamas and babies were behind the TB grazing. Today we saw a wee baby fawn just above mile and a half. It was so young it was still nursing, but mama was scared of us and led it up the hill to get away. It was hot at 8 AM, don't know what these people are thinking when they head down, particularly the young ladies in bikinis. Nice sunrise with some clouds, though.

So we have visitors and S didn't want to go down the corridor so we left at 6 AM to hike down the New Hance, just to the Redwall, because I don't go down further than that in summer, for anybody. That sucker is steep. Like climbing up and down a ladder. And I always lose the trail in the Coconino coming out, so I end up on the loose flagstone, ready to take that last windsurf off into infinity.

But it was a pretty day, and not too hot. Whoever left your water cache at the Redwall, one normally HIDES those and dates them, too. To the loser who wrote "enjoy" at the shady spot, stay home and enjoy that!

We have decided that rather than the Leave No Trace Nazi I should now be the High Priestess of Leave No Trace. This sounds more beneficent, somehow, and gives me an excuse to wear my tiara on the trail.

Hour and a half down, hour and a half out. Not bad for steep and loose.

Overslept so we didn't get on the trail until 6 AM. It was a little cooler, though, because there was a mongo storm last night.

These poor mules are lost. All the way off the trail. Must have been cutting switchbacks again.

At three mile I scared off a begging squirrel, and the gal said, "OH!", so I said, they carry rabies. Brad said, "They carry plague". Then I got to tell her boyfriend not to cut the switchbacks. Busy, busy, busy....

Jake, you managed to get your name on the rocks when I wasn't looking, but it is gone now.

Lots of French persons hiking down in groups. All the women wear as little clothing as possible. I hope they had a garbage bag for when it started to rain at noon.

It was so hot Friday we got up at 4 AM to hike to three mile this morning. A lot better. Of course the cloud cover and and the little spotting of rain helped. 35 minutes down, 40 minutes out. Had to erase LEEDS at the birdbath, and MTWT just above mile and a half. Also, "A", whoever you are, just stay home next time and write on your own walls.

Picked up two bottle lids and a bottle wrapper. I saw some gals, bored, playing with the label on their water bottle, so I guess that's where these come from.

Lots of foreign visitors. I think this is their long vacation time. Most of the gals in bikinis and no socks so they can get a good tan. I love being in the Fault when it starts to rain, just to hear all the bikini babes squeal as they start to get wet.