It was a very nice night and I slept very well. Listening to the creek lull me to sleep was the best feeling in the world after the long hike over here. I woke several times just to change sleeping positions and went right back to sleep.

The last time I woke it was just after 5:30 so I decided to get up. I rolled up the sleeping bag and mattress and then started dragging gear out of the tent. I had coffee, peanut butter and crackers and 2 hot dogs for breakfast. I also had 3 hot dogs for lunch yesterday and 5 for dinner last night so thats more one pound of food gone already.

We were all packed up and ready to go around 7:45. The morning hike up East Clear Creek was nice and we took 2 nice rest breaks along the way. There was no sun whatsoever and it was pleasantly cool and shady. We are just about to head up above the Tapeats rock layer now and then head back along the Tonto Platform towards the Redwall ravine we need to climb.

12:30 - Wotans Throne and Angels Gate saddle

We got up ere a little after noon and had some lunch. The climb kicked my butt but I only had to take my pack off once to push it ahead of me. The tricky moves at the top did not bother me at all and I did both of them with the pack on and didn't even really need the webbing that Chuck had in place. We all did good and we are enjoying a nice rest before heading over the Hall Butte and the descent to Vishnu Creek. I think I will sleep awesome tonight.

19:00 - Vishnu Creek

The traverse along the Redwall on the way over to Vishnu Creek kicked my butt too. The first part was a lot worse than the second part though. My right foot started bugging me during it but luckily a blister has not developed. Chuck said it wasn't a blister but rather some kind of skin bruise but I may just put some moleskin or duct tape on it before we leave tomorrow just to be on the safe side.

We had a nice lunch break on top of the saddle and several others along the way. We had a real long one when we got to the other saddle, near Hall Butte, were the descent to Vishnu Creek is located. That Redwall break is nasty and has lots of loose rock and it really creeped me out. I was very, very glad when we finally got to the bottom of that thing. We found the spring at the bottom of the Redwall and rested there a while but did not end up taking any water because we expected to find some in Vishnu Creek.

The traverse along the Tonto Platform to upper Vishnu Creek kicked my butt some more so all-in-all in was just a butt kicking day. I was exhausted by the time we finally got to camp. The traverse just went on and on and on and we got to the creek if was bone dry. I was very happy when we finally got to a spot in upper Vishnu that had some flowing water and some good sized pools. We got here just a little before 6:00 and had just enough time to setup camp, clean up and make dinner. We are sleeping on some shelves of rock along the creek and I am not bothering with my tent tonight. There is not much flow in the creek so there is no noise from that but we are being serenaded by lots of crickets.