I’ve seen the water level just a few feet below the cave mouth. But not this time.

The hike here was good, taking me and hour and fifteen minutes to get to Whites Creek. The rain had eased off, and I used a compass bearing to get me from where I’d camped overnight back to the trail. As is usual for this section of the Whites Creek Trail, I lost the trail often, sometimes getting misled by game trails, and sometimes just my own mental aberrations. I used the compass and set my own track as I didn’t have time to waste. Sticking to the southern edge of the ridge proved to be a good ploy.

I had made good time to the point where the trail drops down to White Creek, and then I somehow lost the plot, convinced myself I was going in the right direction, despite all the evidence — and the GPS — telling me I wasn’t! I went round in circles for a while until I stopped, looked at where I was, and got a compass bearing to where I wanted to be, and headed off, finally, in the right direction. Given my tight deadline to nightfall, I couldn’t afford to waste any time.

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