September 6

For the most part, today was a good hike. It was chilly in the night and the morning with a stiff breeze that blew well into the afternoon. I was hiking in shorts and my long sleeve shirt through this and considered a few times to stop and put on my fleece. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the visible sun prevented me from putting on any extra layers as I knew I would be too hot after an hour. In the afternoon the wind died down and it was the hot California sun I was expecting for this section. 

I came to a paved road with a trailhead full of cars just before 10 am. It's Friday and the weekend day hikers were out. I got passed by two unfriendly day hikers walking at speeds more suited to trail runners. I saw a lot of day hikers after that and couldn't wait to get back into the wilderness where I would have the trail to myself once again. It happened quite suddenly I turned the corner, and headed away from the lake that apparently every single one was headed to. I saw no one after that except for a nobo on his way to Cascade Locks, OR and one more day hiker at another road that didn't even say hi as we met on the trail. So far I haven't had a great impression of California day hikers, but that can change.

I was able to get my phone calls out with the service in the area. I talked to mom and got my resupply drops figured out. I even managed to talk to Louis for a bit. I found out why I couldn't catch him on this stretch too. He couldn't get a ride out of Etna and ended up having to hitch out the next morning. That set him back on food too so he was doing 27s to get to Castella before his food ran out. I was only gaining 3 miles a day with my 30s. He's leaving Castella tomorrow and doing maximum 25 mile days. He will be 31 miles in on Sunday night so however far I get Sunday afternoon will determine how soon I catch him doing 30 mile days.