Date: April 5, 2016

Hauser creek (mile 15.4) to bush camp (mile 27.7)

Miles: 12.3

We wake up at 5:45 to the sounds of birds chirping. It is chilly out and we are toasty in our sleeping bags. We both slept well (Andy with his Sea to Summit pillow and Laurie with a buff stuffed with clothes).
We sort food for the day, prep our feet and giggle as Andy continues shuffling.

We start hiking at 8. These leisurely mornings are nice but won’t last long. Eventually we hope to be able to break camp in 30 min. Good thing we have 5+ months to practice!

Once on the trail we gradually climb up and down to Lake Morena. The temperatures remain mild and hiking in the shade of our umbrellas with a light breeze feels divine. Our feet feel good and our bodies a little sore from the heavy packs the day before but all in all we are 2 happy hikers.

We spend 2.5 hours at Lake Morena stretching, looking for a new camera, calling family and eating lunch.

After chatting a bit with other hikers we set out again around 2:30.

About an hour in we run into another hiker stopped waiting for a rattlesnake to cross the trail. We chat a bit and then part ways as we stop to air out our feet and snack.

Around 6:00 we find a nice secluded camping spot and decide to call it a night. We didn’t reach our goal of 15 miles/day but plan to make up those miles tomorrow with an earlier start.

Good night from the desert.

Today we are grateful for: gentle grades and leukotape.