It was really cold last night. Below 40 last time I checked. The spot is next to the lake and the microclimate here was wet and cold. Slept really well, but I’m building up a water deficit (again). I finished packing up and hit the trail around 7:30 or so. Stormtrooper bolted almost an hour earlier. It was mostly flat for a few miles to Bolder Oaks CG where I ran into Bryan and Anthony. Bryan is a mechanical engineer who did a bunch of interesting gigs over his career. He says he holds the patent for the chemical/mechanical process for recycling the foam that is used in woman’s bras. Many jokes were had about that one. He is a part time ski instructor in Squaw Valley and getting ready to retire soon. He and I had much to talk about.
Bryan left Bolder Oaks ahead of me. Anthony and I wound up hiking together. The climb was constant and exposed, but nothing like the steepness I had to deal with yesterday. Anthony is a Michigan resident with an Advertising degree. He quit his job writing copy for GM and is working on the next move…..to the west. Might be a California resident some day.
Anthony and I arrived at a at Kitchen Creek at mile 30. Written in the dirt was a shout out to Salty J with an arrow pointing down hill. It was a super spot. Nice running water across wide flat granite. Forgot to take a pic. Stormtrooper and Bryan were down there sprawled out under the only piece of shade available. I took a break there for 45 minutes, but more and more folks kept showing up to share space under a single pathetic little tree. I filled some bottles and took off. All these kids are going to kick my ass anyway, might as well get a head start.
Bryan, Storm, and Anthony all agreed to aim for a spot at mile 37. My stupid Spotify cut out on me during the climb. I think the local cache is messed up which means I need an internet connection to fix. Guess I’m going to be humming to myself for a while. The guys caught up to me one by one and I ended up leading the parade into the camp site. Nice spot with some mildly nasty water.