On day five I headed back down the Brahma-Deva route to the Clear Creek Trail and back to Sumner Wash.

06:30 pm - At camp near Sumner Wash

I am at my camp below Sumner Butte, about 2½ miles from Phantom Ranch. It is not the greatest camp but it is just outside the 2-mile "no camping" zone and the closest to Phantom. I am trying to minimize the distance to travel tomorrow. I don't even think I will have breakfast here and will just pack up and go and eat something when I get to Phantom.

I got started right on time this morning---was up at 6:00 and packed up and on the trail by 8:00. It took slightly more than 2 hours to get back to the Clear Creek Trail and I arrived there around 10:15 or so. The hike back to the Clear Creek Trail was no as bad as I expected. It was long but I think I stayed at the best elevation for the route and ended up just above the first saddle when I arrived back near the Clear Creek Trail. It sure felt good to have a real trail under my feet again though after three days of bush whacking and rock hopping.

I got to Zoroaster Canyon around 11:30 and decided to take my lunch break there. It was a little early yet for lunch so I decided to wander down Zoroaster Canyon a ways first and do some exploring. I have always wanted to do that and have never had the time. Now I had the time and I followed the bed as far as I could, until it came to an impassable pour-off. It is a beautiful canyon, filled with lots of nicely polished pink Zoroaster granite. I guess that's where the canyon gets its name, as well as the temple above it. I think I went down ½ or ¾ mile.

I made a couple of other short stops in some hard shade on the way over here as I was trying not to get here too early. There is no shade to speak of and I am hiding out of the Sun in a very small patch of hard shade behind a boulder about 100 yards away from my tent. I think I will wait until after the Sun sets to eat my dinner tonight. I don't have to heat water and it is just a cold meal of tuna salad on pita bread with some Pringles potato chips.

I drank 2 liters of water coming over here and I have 3 left to get me through the night and over to Phantom. I should be able to get to Phantom from here with no water but I will try to hold on to a liter or so.

I saw a rattlesnake today, a small one. It hissed and rattled at me from under a bush on the other side of Sumner Wash. It was only a foot or maybe a little longer so it must have been a baby. I sure must have started him though as he was ready to strike when I noticed him under the bush. Luckily a small snake doesn't have much of a striking range. I think it was a "pink".