October 1

I woke up later than usual because I didn't plan on hiking and wanted to give my body a rest. I did have some oatmeal and just enough fuel for that and hot coffee for breakfast. My day always goes better when I have enough fuel for hot coffee. I left Louis at the campground as he was hiking south and I was hitching to town. An hour later I had a ride to Yosemite Valley and great conversation the whole way. As usual, I ate an obnoxious amount of food and most of it was dairy in some form or another. I got my packages and still have cookies left over to take on the trail since Louis wasn't there to help me eat them. 

Almost all of Yosemite Village was closed due to the government shutdown, but the important places like the grocery store and post office were open. I charged my devices as much as possible on an open outlet I found near a pay phone, and watched a ranger give three tv interviews in succession. Just before leaving I bought a pint of Haagen Das (sp?) and then started hitching at about 3:45 pm. It took three separate hitches but I made it back to the same campsite I shared with Louis last night by 7:00 and am ready to eat a little meal and call it a night.