Slept in again through my alarm (shocking). I heard Spoonman and Skinny D go by me. I couldn't be seen from the trail from where I was camped. Phone was dead so I had to walk out to the road and hang my solar panel on one little bit of manzanita that had sunlight. Got some volts into the phone.

Going down the trail I saw a guy with a little backpack. Turns out his name was Mike and he was with a PCTA trail crew. Eventually I started seeing more and more people working on the trail. I mentioned how I had walked from Snoqualimie Pass to Canada with Pete Fish in 1994 and they were all impressed. Pete was one of the main trail crew organizer guys for many years. I'm hoping I can go see him sometime after this hike his done.

The trail eventaully passed through the trail crew's camp. They had told me to go in there and say hi so I did. The guy (John Lyons) gave me some fruit salad and a diet Pepsi. We talked about the trail and soon I was gone again.

I didn't go up to Grizzly Peak like I did in 1996. Apparently the fire lookout tower is gone now and a signal repeater is up there now. The trail dropped and dropped to where it was back into the hot, dry, oak tree surroundings.

I made lunch at the MccCoud river. Talked to a few fisherman and then started the climb up the hill. I was still really tired for some reason. As soon as I saw a flat spot near the trail I had my ground cloth out and was napping.

Farther up the trail I met two new hikers I had heard about but hadn't met. Two girls named Midnight Chocolate and Cowgirl. They had a dog named Xena with them too.

I got to Squaw Creek and made dinner. It was the last water for 10 miles or so. Although I was losing daylight I figured I would just hike with a lighter pack and at night, rather than packing water for several miles. This was the spot in 1996 where I had food poisoning. I took a photo of myself on the bridge in 1996 when I was horribly sick. I retook the same photo this time. Fortunately I was not sick this time. I would have bet anyone that I had taken the photo with my camera pointing to the east and me facing the west, but looking at the surroundings, I had taken the photo in the opposite direction. That is one of the biggest things I have noticed about the hike this year, how much memory distorts reality.

Long story short on the 1996 food poisoning. I had gone up to Grizzly Peak lookout because there was a nearby fire burning. Working the tower was Mrs. Robinson. Because of her attractive qualities, a gaggle of male firefighters and forest service workers kept bringing food to her. She offered me all the food I wanted. It was a goldmine. Unfortunately, one of the sandwiches from the cooler must have been bad, because I started to get really sick that night.

It was good to take the dinner break. I had a lot of energy to climb up the next hill. Passed a few people camped near the trail Once I neared the top I found a spot on a rocky overgrown logging road. Ended up being a little over 30 miles today and it sure didn't feel like it.

Tomorrow it is about 13 miles out and then I am in civilization again. Going to head up to Dunsmuir where my packages and laptop/bounce box are waiting for me.

Notes of how today's entry was made:

Spoonman morn

Phone dead trail crew Pete fish

Low river oak

Nap

Midnight chocolate cowgirl cents

Cook at squaw creek.

No pack water need food give up daylight.