Great night of sleep last night. I think the nearby stream helped. Everyone in our group seem to sleep well last night.
Got rolling about 6:30 and headed straight for Mather Pass. It was a good climb, fairly steep in spots but as usual for the Sierras, great views at the top. There were a couple marmots that were very bold and came with 5 yards of where we were sitting.
It was a long downhill from the pass. Several steep sections made me think of Southbounders or those hiking the JMT (typically hiked north to south) as it would have been a good challenge.
Temps were in the 80s probably and it felt quite warm for much of the day.
In the late afternoon, we were taking a break and up walks Joe Anderson and a couple other guys that were out doing some hiking in the area (Joe and his wife Terry are trail angels that host hikers at their house in Greenville). They told us of some trail magic just up the way. There were three PCT alum from 2007 making salad and quesadillas. It was an excellent and extremely unexpected treat for us. We hung out there for over an hour and a half and had a great time with the group that was there. Thanks Hot Pants, Reaper, Dewy, Nick, Floyd, Joe!
After the magic, we hiked on another 4 miles and began part of the accent up to Muir Pass. This will give us a good head start for tomorrow as we plan to do over 26 miles.
Today was the first day that we did not see another PCT thru hiker.
Daily Distance: 24
Trip Distance: 774.4
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