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Today's route stats: 

We got a leisurely start this morning even though we had almost 9 miles of hiking to get to Lone Tree, our destination for the day.   Water sources are scarce along this section of trail, so if you want to camp by water, your choices are limited.   The only certain water along this stretch is at Cottonwood Creek and Grapevine Creek.   But in early Spring the other drainages often have water.   The hiking along this stretch is easy and very pretty.

Although it was nice to find water at Lone Tree, we also found several other groups camped there.   Either some groups were illegally camped there, or everyone with a permit for the Cremation Use Zone was camped at Lone Tree that night.   All the decent tent sites were taken. However, we were lucky to run into Rob Brading and his partner.   They were kind enough to allow us to set up a tent very near their campsite.   I had known Rob through the Yahoo Grand Canyon Hiking Group, but I had never met him.   It was interesting to learn that Rob and I share the University of Colorado in Boulder as our alma mater, and that Rob graduated from Boulder High, were Brianna is currently enrolled.