May 10th Mile 280

Today was a cheerful day on the trail. A bunch of us got dropped off at the trailhead by a woman named Sherl who just heard about this whole thru hiking thing three days ago. To say she is enthusiastic would be quite an understatement. So, hiking by 10am and the weather was great. Warm but not too hot. The hill climbing wasn't too bad and the bulk of the hike was easy walking, especially in comparison to the last few weeks. Very nice.

All went well and about nine miles in we all ended up at the same watering hole and took a nice long break. My goal for the day was to hike fourteen miles so I only had five more to do. The group was planning to go a bit farther. About three miles later I came to a junction with another trail called the Cougar Trail. The junction wasn't well marked so I took the trail that looked most used. It seemed right for a bit till it swung around back the way I had just come, as well as downhill. Clearly this wasn't right so I turned around and double timed it back to the junction. Low and behold, coming back I saw high up in a tree the PCT junction marker. I had zigged when I should have zagged. This little adventure added another mile to my total so that makes 15 for today.

The plan for this section is to hike 14 miles each day for 7 days which will bring me to Wrightwood for an overnighter, or possibly two nights. It depends on how tired I am when I get there. Though if today was any indication, I seem to be handling the miles pretty well. Time will tell.

The images are of Sherl and Mr Soup and of a tree bridge.