Cajon pass is now blanketed in fog.

6-11-2016

In the morning I waffled back and forth on whether to backtrack 7 miles to try to look for my glasses or not.  In the end I decided it was wisest to not try to do that and to rely on Aaron and Stiff to look for them as they came up behind me.  After all, I did have a backup pair and I can use my regular glasses most of the time unless it’s really bright out.

I played leapfrog with Tule most of the morning and we were both surprised to find another water cache not on the water report that was well stocked.

Using the Guthook app that shows way more campsites than the official data book and has up to date postings on statuses as well as pictures.  It has been the most reliable thing to use so far.  It’s the best $25 I have spent on the entire trip.

The terrain at the beginning to f the morning was more desert but the last five miles turned to ponderosa pines again and it was a nice hike into town.  I did not seem to have much energy most of the morning and I think it’s because all of the extra running back looking for my glasses from the night before and not getting enough to eat.  I ate a full dinner but I guess I needed more.

It took at least 30 or 40 minutes to get a hitch into town.  Another hiker I had passed that morning showed up and we hitched together.  Turns out he is also from Florida and also hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2008.  Small world.  His name is Achilles.  The guy who picked us up was interested in doing the PCT some day so he picked our brains all the way into town.  He had actually passed us, then turned around to come back to get us.  And he wasn’t even going all the way to wrightwood.

Once in town I went straight for the hardware store to pick up my resupply packages.  That a small section of the store dedicated to PCT hikers and had a two page flier with trail angels names and numbers.  I took a photo and headed straight to lunch.  Tule texted me where he was eating and Achilles and I joined him.  After lunch (burger, fries, salad, and a beer) we started calling trail angels to see who had room.  I found one on my second call and she had room for two.  Tule already had one so Achilles and I took it.  She had a pop-up camper for us to use.  It was perfect.

Achilles showered and went to town, while I did laundry and repacked from the supply boxes.  One of the things I had Karen send me was a book on PCT planning that didn’t arrive until the day after I left.  She said it was big and wouldn’t fit so I had her take out a days worth of food to fit it in.  She was right, it was big… And heavy.  Being Saturday, I couldn’t mail it back or anything so I started reading it.  It has some useful info and I took photos of about a dozen key pages.  I still have not finished planning all of Oregon and Washington so it will still come in useful.  The other thing I wanted it for was town maps.  I looked through all the towns I have already been through and came to the decision that the Guthooks app is just as good, so I did not photograph any of those pages.

By the time I had my shower and laundry was done it was close to 9 and I wasn’t hungry, so I did not go out to dinner, I just ate a few cookies and went to bed.  It felt really good to be clean and in clean clothes.  I slept well and didn’t even use earplugs.