Miles today: 20.7

Trail miles: 693.5

Elevation: 5846

Spinning on the turntable: Grouplove: Never trust a happy song

Up at 4AM and out hiking by 5AM today. When I set up camp last night I was alone, but when I left this morning there were four or five other tents.

It took me two hours to reach the other potential campsites from last night, so I’m happy I didn’t press on any further.

Anyone know what kind of poop this is? I saw quite a few piles on the trail today. Another hiker caught me taking this picture and gave me an odd look. (She didn’t know what kind of poop it was either.)

This morning I was chatting with a 71 year old hiker named Doc, who was heading in the opposite direction. Doc was inquiring as to my target destination for the day and I said about 18-20 miles from where I began. Doc approved of my destination and said that us “old guys” can’t do the kind of miles that the younger folks are cranking out.

Doc saw hikers jogging as they were heading down the trail for Kennedy Meadows. Jogging. We both snorted our opinions on that little ditty. I can’t imagine running towards anything on the trail unless there was an emergency, free pizza or free beer.

Lots of water options today, for which I’m very grateful.

I stopped for lunch and a nap but the bugs were driving me crazy.

I’m not carrying my head bug net yet, but I’m thinking that it’s about to become much more important.

I was thrilled this afternoon that there were clouds and rain.

No complaints! I was able to hike up a big hill in cooler temperatures and didn’t wilt under the blazing sun.

I made it into camp by 5PM and soaked my feet in a creek.

Cool creek at the end of the day to soak my feet. I enjoyed it so much that I washed my legs too!

I chatted with other hikers and no one seemed to have a solid Sierra plan yet. I’m not alone.

Tomorrow I’ll finish the first section of the PCT and I’m not sure how I feel about it.