PCT 2 – South of Mt Laguna

Daily miles 18
Total miles 38

We had been hoping for a really good night’s sleep, but it seemed to elude us. Not sure if it was the nearby turkey, dog, or road that made sleep difficult, or simply needing more time to acclimate to sleeping outside again. At least we were comfortable in our hammocks.

We got up at 5:30 and were on the trail by 6:20. We had planned to keep hiking with our friend, Lewis, but he was held up and we went on ahead. We figured it might take him awhile to catch up, since we started out at a good pace, but after an hour and forty minutes, we saw him walking towards us with other hikers, but not coming down the PCT. Turns out they started out on the wrong trail and ended up taking a short cut. It was nice to meet up with him again and it was good to get a chance to hike with the other folks that we had met yesterday. They are a really good group and we took several breaks with them during the day.

We made it to a nice and shady camp spot about 12 miles in just before noon. We decided to stop there for an extended lunch break along with about 8 other hikers. A lot of folks took a nap and Beardoh even set up his hammock.

We headed out again around 2:30 and continued the lengthy climb towards Mt. Laguna. The sun was still pretty intense, but we managed to keep a decent pace. We only had about six miles left  to reach our camping destination and the next water on the trail.

It was much nicer walking today without being weighed down with extra water. Today we didn’t need to carry more than three liters at a time.

We’re heading into Mt. Laguna tomorrow morning to pick up our resupply box. After that we should be done with the big climbs for a day or two. It will be nice not to have to climb up a mountain in the intense heat of the afternoon sun.

We’re camped with Lewis and a German/English couple from Australia. It was fun to hang out and chat during dinner time. It is now dark and we have all headed to our sleeping bags…Another great day on the trail.