8.7.18

I woke in the morning to a mosquito attack. Its as of the ones the night before had alerted the hord and they aid waiting for me outside my tent. SunDown was in his twent next to me, boiling up water for some coffee and enjoying his morning routine.

I quickly packed up and with coffee in hand, headed up the trail. The forest was still thick here and the trees were covered in a light green moss. It clung to all of them it seemed, almost like bandages to a mummy in a classic cartoon.

I soon happened upon Summit Lake which I could see through the mossy trees. It was beautiful and the sunrise glinted across its surface. Dirt roads let to trail for campsites near the bank, and I pressed on through the trees.

Lilypad ponds upon lilly ponds were riddles in the forest here. At every turn it seemed. It was most definityly a mosquito paradise and my clothes and skin was smeared with far too many misquote bodies to count. I felt bad, but still sometimes you cant help the autoreaction.

Finally I started a long decent and after twisting down among the ferns and low underbrush I found my turnoff to Shelter Cove. I pressed on and crossed a really cool 1 log bridge over a wide creek. In about a mile I crossed some traintracks, and finally found a paved road which lead to the parkinglot of Shelter Cove. A slew of hikers were hanging out front and I knew most of them.

After greetings to HappyFeet, ChilliBin, Sundown, Happy, CoolRunnings, Photon, Tiny Slice, and many others, I ordered up a burger and beer. The usual chargin of batteries, brbbing food resupply and happy banter ensued. Soon after feeling renewed I put my shoes back on and Happy, ChilliBin and myself hike out.

Its always a nice feeling to get out of a town or resupply point and escaping the urge to stay. We pressed on, back up the road, to the small trail that eventually rejoined the PCT. It felt good and Happy and I went on debating about the possibility of sucessfully establishing unilateral wealth and its impact on a people. It always seems like the convos get deep haha. Before we knew it we were at Lower Rosemary Lake and setting up for the night. SmokeBeard, an old friend from the desert was camped nearby and joined up for dinner starting up a whole new debate. It was nice to chill out and chat on. Soon the light faded, and so did all our desires to stay awake. It was a darn good day, and we all crashed hard!

Book Suggestion: Guns, Germs, and Steel