April 25

So nice to start the day clean, rested and well fed (coffee, OJ, protein/banana drink, bagel etc). Wow, what a luxury! Thank you again to Angela for hosting me in Agua Dulce!

We left around 9am to drive to Bouquet Canyon Road. All day long there were dark clouds around but so far we have stayed dry. The forecast wasn’t really sure on the precipitation percentage … let’s hope it all disappears. I know Wrightwood was expecting snow on Monday so today and Monday it will be cooler but we hope to avoid rain.

Angela hiked 4 miles with us to a ridge, then turned around. Andreas, Tuna, Action and Travis were around. The rest of the 13 miles to the next water source were pretty cruisy – ups and downs but nothing bad.

I felt strong after all the good food (the previous day Angela cooked spaghetti with meatless meat balls in tomato sauce, veggies and salad, then later perogies with “Schmelze”).

I stayed around Tuna and Andreas all day and we arrived around 3pm to the San Francisquito Road. That was 13 miles without water (here the water source is again a fire station, not a spring).

Since there aren’t any good camp spots on the other side of the highway and the wind is very strong by the fire station, our camp in the bushes is the only feasible option. So we stopped early. We are near the road and there is traffic but it will just be background noise for the night.

We only have 8 miles tomorrow to Lake Hughes Road where we have to leave the trail due to the Hughes Fire Closure. The hitch around this section should work just fine … it’s a busy enough highway and after a turn North in Lake Hughes it parallels the trail.