Last night’s clear, cold and breezy skies were interrupted sometime in the middle of the night by a blanket of low, marine layer clouds and fog. I was soundly sleeping when a large drop hit my face, the only exposed part of my body that was otherwise snuggly wrapped in my down sleeping bag. I thought it was a bird pooping on me from the scraggly pine I had set up under. In my stupor, I wiped my face, then returned to sleep. Seconds later, it happened again. This time, I sat up and turned on the head lamp to see what in the heck was going on. Fog enveloped the camp site. I could still make out the image of stars above, but the wind driven clouds and fog were causing massive condensation on the trees above and a nearly constant rain effect was the result. I moved my sleeping arrangement (cowboy setup) out from under the tree, covered up loose items from the pack, rolled my tarptent over the sleeping bag, and returned to sleep. Later in the night I overheard others of my hiker buddies up setting up tarps, tents, etc. in the darkness of the middle of the night.
8:00am: no one was stirring or moving but Doodlebug and me. Phantom had retreated to Whoop Ass's tent after she set it up in the middle of the night, then made the rounds to invite us into her tent for respite. I looked around and saw that Nitro was gone. The fog and clouds continued blowing through the camp as Doodlebug and I packed for the morning hike. It was cold. Soon the two of us were hiking. As usual, with my faster pace I pulled away and began hiking solo for a couple of hours. Terrain was generally up all morning in green covered hills and mountains, which from a vantage point looking out some distance, appears similar in greenery, shape, texture, and steepness to the Waipio Valley on the big island of Hawaii.
I climbed up Shake Canyon and at midmorning caught up to Nitro, who was drying out wet gear and chatting with Opto and Bill, who were southbound section-hiking and taking advantage of Squirrel’s trail magic. After a few minutes of trail talk, I continued on another mile to an unexpected water source that is normally dry. I spread out my wet gear to dry in the ample sunshine, ate some snacks, and loaded up on water to face the waterless stretch upcoming. Doodlebug joined me at the water source and dried out gear as well. I resumed hiking at noon and made an agreement with Doodlebug that I would stop for lunch at 1:30. At 1:30 I stopped at the PCT trail junction with a side trail to Sawmill Campground where I ate, relaxed and soaked up the gorgeous, but chilly afternoon.
After lunch with Doodlebug, I climbed Liebre Mountain, a 1000 foot climb, then stopped for an afternoon break up top on a water tank where I had great views looking toward the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood area and the Pacific Ocean. Doodlebug caught up again and we planned for a rendezvous to camp another six miles down the trail. The trail circumventing Liebre Mountain was outstanding. Forested in black oak and cedar, it reminded me of some of the more memorable sections of the AT. Around 6:30 I arrived at a campsite in a gap. I quickly set up the tarptent and put on some long clothes to combat cold and mosquitoes. A quick dinner ensued. Doodlebug arrived around 7:15. I made it to sleeping quarters before 8pm. Nitro arrived before dark. It’s the three of us tonight, our other trail buddies are somewhere behind this evening. Tomorrow, the general store, then we enter the Mojave Desert.
Weather; cold, low 40, high 65. Today’s mileage, 20.2; cumulative mileage 508.6.