Mileage Breakdown: 1 mile road walk back to the PCT + 19.8 miles on the PCT. Back on the trail. I packed up and was on the road walk by 7:30am. The rest of the group was out much earlier. I often have found myself feeling rushed to get moving, but am realizing that taking it slower is a lot more enjoyable. And I'm ok with walking later in the day, in fact I prefer it.During the road walk, I made some phone calls home before I was out of cell range. Also there were some interesting houses.
Between the road and mile 8 for the day (the next water source), there wasn't a whole lot of interesting stuff to look at. The haze limited any good views. Also I was on the constant lookout for rattlesnakes. None were seen.
At the water source, I decided to enjoy the shade and eat lunch for roughly an hour. There were a few other guys there, we didn't talk much.
This is what 4 Liters looks like. It's not a whole lot of fun to carry. But I'm glad it's not 6 (my maximum capacity).
Pretty much the rest of the day was either, look for rattlesnakes or dodge poison oak. Some of the poison oak was very well camouflaged in the long grass. No rash as I'm writing this, so maybe I snuck by without contact.
At mile 473, there is a bench under an oak tree. Leah and Anna were both there relaxing. I hung out for 30 minutes or so, then we all left for the last 2 miles of the day.
It was 6:09ish and the lighting was great! Met up with the rest of the group, at mile 474 and setup camp just before sunset. I decided to "mesh it up", a phrase I came up with to describe setting up my tent without the vestibule.