September 10

It was incredibly hot again today. I started hiking at 7 am tired from the 35 yesterday and was too warm for my fleece almost immediately. I use a lot of water with as hot as it has been and have to fill up at almost every source. I met a few people on the trail and a couple from that I met yesterday gave me good info about how far ahead Louis was. The couple is from San Diego too, and we exchanged information and it sounds like I can call for transportation of need be. 

Today I have been watching the tracks in the dirt as Louis's footprints are visible. I noticed too some cat tracks, and not the kind you find in a house. There were quite a few going south ahead of me, they disappeared, then reappeared coming north. They were all a day old or last night possibly, but I'm sure at one point or another I was being watched by the owner of those footprints. There was even a cat hole courteously dug by one of the animals, much better behavior than the bears who leave logs as big as my forearm in the middle of the trail. I came around a bend in the trail and saw a large bear scrambling to get out of the area upon seeing me, and making as much noise as a freight train running through the brush below. All this excitement had me wanting to camp with another person for the night. I tried to catch Louis, but have to camp as it is 10:00 pm and I am still 5 miles away after a 37 mile day. I'll do the 5 miles in the morning, in the mean time I am filthy and dusty and was to sleep for a bit.