Mid Afternoon They Are Exhausted and Reach A Knoll Suitable for Camping.
“By about three in the afternoon my legs start to get rubbery and it’s time to stop. I’m not in very good shape. If you go on after that rubbery feeling you start to pull muscles and the next day is agony. .. We come to a flat spot, a large knoll protruding from the side of the mountain. I tell Chris this is it for today. He seems satisfied and cheerful; maybe some progress has been made with him after all.“
Flat spot side of mountain, between Cottonwood Canyon and Hyalite Canyon, Gallatin National Forest, MT. After considerable study of the landscape around my Hypothetical Climbing Trail, my WayPt N+C 17 shows a likely place for the Narrator's “flat spot or knoll protruding from the side of the mountain.“ Consistent to the Narrative, this location is not too far away from the water of upper Fox Creek, supposing it does not dry up mid Summer. Mr. Pirsig's 1968 photo of their camping location shows dense forest. This would be compatible with a low area with likely extra water at head of Fox Creek. This is in a portion of the forest far away from logging roads, which in turn, fits the Narrator's verv important location clues next morning: “It looks as though the pines have never been cut here. All direct light is shut out from the forest floor and there’s no underbrush at all. Just a springy floor of needles that’s open and spacious and easy hiking.“ All this fits Mr. Pirsig's own 1968 photo shown at link below:

Please return here to these photos after viewing: detour in new browser frame for Robert-Pirsig's 1968 campsite.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0070cb ...... ZMM Page = 201 ...... Photo Simulate WayPt = N+C 17 8845ft)