“Friday the 4th. The men at the camp wanted me to sleep in their big dark tent last night with it all closed up but it got to stuffy so I too [sic.] my bed y went outside y fought mosquitos the rest of the night.* Because those [?] have been very bad the last 2 days y nights. This morning I had breakfast y they also insisted on me taking a lunch along. Instead of following the river down to [?] as I first intended, I headed up Morrison Creek from 3 Forks R.S. where I obtained a roll of film from the ranger’s wife. I followed this creek up for 9-10 miles to a fork in the trail where there was a telephone on a tree y a fire chaser camp. Here I first intended to take the left hand trail over to [?] creek but after going along this a little it swung almost S.W. so I came back y tok the other one which was a new one y going N. this I followed for abt 2 miles then that swung clear around E. y then S up a large creek so I came back to the tel. y camped and tomorrow I will give the first trail a trial again. Perhaps it is only temporary that it goes so much S.W. If I don’t follow it I will cut across abt N.E. it came a thunder shower while I eat lunch at Crescent Creek so I fixed up some mosquito netting form y bed y tonight while cooking supper I had another thunder shower. I was walking barefoot for several miles this p.m. the trail soft as velvet underfoot from half decayed tree old y needles y moss. It has been a little cloudy most of the day so it had not been so very warm.** There was a heavy smoke over the mountains to the W. last night.
*Parsons encountered a trail crew working a stretch of the trail he was hiking the day before. They invited me to stay for dinner and the night with them.
**Parsons often hiked barefoot, in part because he liked the feeling the ground beneath his feet and also to save wear and tear on his boots.