3 days, 3 different days!

As I write this, we are camped out at the top of this mountain, amongst boulders and other hikers. We've had an incredible 3 days of hiking, plus one zero day at kickoff, on Saturday.

We started the first day on trail at 7:40AM after some photos at the monument. It was a beautiful, sunny, hot day and we walked a total of 20 miles. It was relatively easy walking with only one long ascent out of Hauser creek. Water sources were fine and we only started getting tired towards the end, but we knew that Lake Morena and the ADZPCTKO was near.

On Sunday, we started out early, at 6:20AM, to get a bit of a head start on some of the others, as many of us were leaving from Lake Morena that morning. The day brought a huge amount of variability in terms of landscapes and terrain. Over the 22 miles that we covered, we crossed some streams, walked through a meadow, a forest and along countless miles of cliffs. We were exhausted by the time we got to Burnt Rancheria, where we spent the night. It was quiet and we had a bathroom nearby! What luxury!

This morning we started out slow as we had to pick up some resupply boxes at Mount Laguna and we had to wait until 9AM to do so. The day was hot and with the late start, we only managed 13k. We stopped at Pioneer Mail picnic area to have dinner and hang out for a bit. We ate dinner with June and Brian aka the Michigan Wolverine, aka Batman, aka Jared. He's in his late fourties and absolutely hilarious. We met him at Scout and Frodo's in San Diego. So after dinner we all wanted to continue on to this 'boulder field' where it sounded like it was great camping and it was only another few miles down the trail. When we arrived we were so stoked. It was a perfect evening and we were at the top of a mountain with an amazing view. I'll try to post some photos. There were at least another 8-10 folks there as well. We got set up and climbed up on a huge boulder and enjoyed the night sky. At about 11PM, as you may imagine, at the top of a mountain, the winds picked up. A lot. The tent would not stay up and do it served more as a cocoon as we just wrapped ourselves up and tried to sleep. Maybe 4 or 5 hours total. But it was worth it.