November 11

I was up with the sunrise and left Nat, Jane and Louis at camp to start my day on the trail. Nat and Jane caught up within a couple hours because the eczema is a little inflamed on my feet from wearing synthetic fiber socks for the previous two weeks. I've been taking ibuprofen to keep the inflammation at a minimum and also have some hydrocortisone and new wool socks. We arrived at scissors crossing, where Nat and Jane posted up on the road to hitch to Julian to resupply. I went under the bridge to the water cache to hydrate and let my feet air out. Smooth and Louis joined me and we sat in the cool shade for an hour before we ventured into the hot desert floor to hike again. It was warm enough that shedding layers was necessary and I even hiked in my bike shorts for a while to stay cool. Smooth fell behind today, as he is battling various body fatigue including shin splints. Louis and myself are camped together near a trailhead and a pit toilet, and have about 17 miles to go to get to the Mt. Laguna store for some calorie loading before the final stretch.