September 11

I finished the remaining miles to Burney Falls by 7:50 am and waited for the store to open at 9:00. Louis showed up just before the store opened and we talked for a while on a picnic bench waiting for our chance to go in for breakfast food. I was in a weird state of mind with little sleep and huge mileage affecting me this morning. If I was thinking I would have gone down to the camping area where there were showers and where I would be sure to find Louis. I was only focused on food and going in to buy some milk for my muesli. Louis left the falls area while I showered at the facility and washed clothes in a sink. I caught up to him at the first source of water, a fish hatchery 11 miles south. We swam in the lake and took a long break to get out of the sun for a while then started our hike again at 5:00 pm. It's been nice having a hiking partner again, and we have spent the last 5 hours talking and catching up on all the news over the last month. We hiked into the night and now at 11:00 are ready for bed and to finish off the remaining 22 miles to Old Station where we both need to visit the post office.