OG cooked us a hearty breakfast – bacon, eggs, hash browns and pancakes washed down with OJ and tea. Another hiker we knew, Mary, had shared our cabin since the bunk room was full. We had met Mary in Oregon and now we crossed paths again as she is hiking south to Mexico.

After that we cleaned the cabin, packed up and waited for our shuttle to the trail. There was some delay on the way due to roadworks but after goodbyes to our friends heading in the other direction, we set off up a steep slope – me and Rob, OG and another hiker, Batman who has joined us for this section.

As we climbed and the path became steeper and rockier it became apparent that we were not on the PCT at all. Nevertheless we pushed on to the top of the hill where we joined the right path at a much more gentle incline. Around the corner we met a father and daughter who we recognised as being from the Bennett family who we met in northern Oregon – parents and 4 children thru hiking (the Bennet family).

Further down the trail we saw the rest of the family and were able to congratulate them on their near completion of the thru hike. They plan to ascend Whitney and finish at Lone Pine.

On we hiked, stopping for lunch, water filtering and drinks. We are on the eastern drier side of the mountains but enjoying the more frequent shade of the conifer forests. In the late afternoon the trail went onto grazing land and we are camped on dusty ground near a small stream after hiking just over 18 miles.