Day 118 miles 1294.4-1314.7

Start: 1294.4 End: 1314.7 Total: 20.3

It was an early start as we still had quite a climb through a burn zone that left no shade. We were on trail just after 5:30, packing up was a breeze without our shelters to take down.

We then began the big climb up the remaining 9 miles & 3400 feet of elevation. Luckily there was plenty of water along the way so we didn’t have to carry too much. It wasn’t too bad since the sun hadn’t risen yet. It was steady uphill, steeper in some sections than others but the steepness never lasted. The trail would eventually even out for a bit. We also passed officially out of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and into the cascades.

Nearing the top Fish Fry passed us, eager to chug his tequila at the top. We took a break after the top near some water and Payload and Hilldogo soon passed us as well. It was super chill trail for the following four miles but the entire zone was completely burnt.

We soon took another break at the next after source, a spring being funneled into an old bath tub. We found a price of shade and had lunch there. Beer run and Mango had caught up in record pace and joined us.

After lunch we had a wee 600 foot climb through some more burn area before the trail evened out into gentle ups and downs. The trail then started to pass through some volcanic rock which was a welcome change of scenery.

I walked from the trail over a dirt parking lot and saw a white tent in the background. My hopes got up for some trail magic but I wasn’t sure that the trail went over that way. Sure enough though it did and it was trail magic! We were given BLTs, fresh fruit, cookies, fruit and whip cream deserts and a cold beverage! It was so lovely.

We had a mile to go to camp after that and an unfortunate .3 mile downhill from camp to get water. Then we watched a bit of a movie Mantis had downloaded before going to bed.