"Dead Owl in Main Tank. Beware." That's what the makeshift sign on Beehive Tank told me. There was also one at the stock trough fed by the tank. The owl was in addition to the dead insects (mostly bees) in the opaque green water. Oh and a dead sparrow. And cow bones nearby. Too bad I needed the water. I was sorry not to have purified more at Cow Head Tank. It's 8 uphill miles to the public water cache at the next trailhead.

I have 4.5 liters of water from the Pool of Death and 8oz left over known good water. I do trust my First Need purifier so I'm not worried but it's hard to get excited about drinking it. This will be a true test. Earlier I pulled water from Mountain View Tank that was supposed to have an aftertaste after coming out of the pump. I'm hoping for the same for this water.

It was a good hike today but I started late and finished early. It was warm and comfortable last night and I slept in. Looks like it will be that way tonight. There are some bats out but built a small fire to keep the flying critters away. It isn't working so good.

Two of the water sources weren't on the trail so I accumulated another mile of hiking that doesn't get me closer to the end of the trail. I try to keep that to a minimum.

Also the old broken down windmill is something straight out of a horror movie.