Swift Camp Creek has been a hike on my to-do list for a while. It’s a long downhill to the creek where I figured I’d camp with access to treatable water. It was unbelievably hot and humid so I knew I’d want to stay hydrated. I wound up only needing the gallon I carried in with me. Next time, I’ll probably bring less and filter more. I really didn’t know what to expect since this was my first visit and as usual, I over-prepared.
I passed a duo coming up the trail as I went down. They were in bad shape. They’d missed the Swift Camp trail and had detoured on Rough Trail before backtracking and had been out longer than they’d prepared for. I told them they had another half hour of uphill and continued on. The next day on the way out myself, I saw where they’d gotten sick on the trail. Like I said, it was extremely hot and humid.
The valley was only slightly cooler than the trailhead up on the ridge. I arrived just as the sun sunk below the tree line and crossed the creek to what appeared to be a promising campsite. There were many fire rings on the opposite shore and one had a sort of platform left there by a previous camper which looked like it would make good firewood, so that’s where I decided to overnight. I set my tent with the rain fly way up off the ground so any airflow would help cool me when I laid down. It was a moonlight night and I slept decently.
I’ll definitely go back but will likely day hike and camp somewhere else using the truck. It’s way too hot for backcountry overnights right now.