Mile 41.3

+ High: Mt Magula Lodge has been really wonderful place to stay

- Low: feet still hurt

• Best gear: Patagonia hudini wind jacket, great to hike with, sleep in, easy dry, super light (Thanks to Andy)

Mt. Laguna is a mark that you have to hit. That’s my first mail drop point. I couldn’t wait to get there. Michael and I started walking
around 7 and my feet were still bothering me a lot. I couldn’t walk normal. It was upsetting. I tried hard to keep up with Michael, but it was hard.

Around 10, we met two lovely ladies on trail with a super cute dog! They were Kate from Canada and Tanya from New Zealand. Their packs looked so tiny and I was really jealous. It turned out that they have an RV following them for water and food support. I wish I had that arrangement with my dad... The golden doodle, Sonsie, is super cute with red panda eyes. We two groups passed each other several times and they are always pleasant!

We rested at a tent site and saw Darwin, a well-known youtuber. He was very nice in person. I tried out a lot of gears base on his reviews.

After the campsite, we marched on to the next water source, Long Cayon Creek and met this kind of trail famous guy, Metric Ton, on the road side. He has a 90lb backpack. That’s how he got his trail name, Metric ton. I don’t think I can even lift the pack up to my shoulder without help... He thru-hiked the AT before. He said he liked it better without worrying about water and the heat. Long Canyon Creek was just little stream passes cross PCT, but the water was cold and clean. I put my feet in the stream to cool the pain. It felt really nice! After water, Mt. Laguna was just less than 4 miles away.

I wanted so bad to get to Mt. Laguna to have a hot shower and a lodge to stay in. We didn’t make it in the end. The sky darkened down so fast and we were only able to reached the campsite right before Mt Laguna. It’s only 0.8 miles... damn it.

We got in to town the next day. It’s such a joy to see the general store and all the goodies! I booked a room, so did Michael. We all agreed that we needed a restful night to recover. I saw my first “hiker box”, full of great stuff to pick from!

While waiting for restaurant to open, we sat on the front porch and greeted everyone who came after us. It was so much fun! Louis hurt his knees so he is taking it slow. Michelle’s backpack was killing her nerves on the hip, so she is waiting for her new backpack to arrive. Kevin and Lori also came in a little later. Kevin still looks refreshing and Lori still looks tired. We also met John and Tammy from Seattle. They are doing the section hike. Tammy is a soccer player, a very cool woman.

Michelle, Michael, Louis, Kevin

Everyone was chatting and waiting for the restaurant to open at 12. We occupied the while table and exchange the experience in the past 3 days. The food was really good. People were so happy!

Giggles

After lunch, a lot of people went back on trail. I stayed for the night. I did my laundry and had a great night sleep.