Date: Saturday, May 6th 2023
Day 2
Miles Hiked: 0
N 32.788387° W 116.434293°
- Trail Conditions: Mostly climbing today (camped at 4800') which has helped with the knee pain that started descending into Hauser Creek yesterday. (Also, fewer rocks!!) Warm and sunny. Still a lot lf manzanita trees, but also more open grassy areas. The trail passed through two campgrounds with bathrooms, which was nice. It also passed by the Oak Bluff maltshop, so I stopped in to get an omelette and coffee, where I also met a hiker named Sam amd some friendly locals on their way to work. Two stream crossings, about knee deel but not too fast. Just regular creeks.
- Campsite: Tucked under a manzanita tree in a hollow on the ridgline. There was coyote poop all over the trail the last several miles, so it must be a highway. There are so many hummingbirds buzzing overhead--they sound like tiny drones and I initially thought they were really big bugs. D: Two other hikers are camped at a bigger spot about ten yards down.
- People: Hiked some portions with Sam from LA and also met an international hiker named Laila/Layla (sp?). One of the hikers at the site just down from me started the same morning and we chatted outside the Lake Morena campground, but I forgot her name.
- Tomorrow: If my knee is up for it, I'm going to try to make 20.5 miles because there's no dispersed camping between miles 13 and 20. It's mostly uphill (knee feels best on uphill, stiff on level, and hurts on downhill), and I'll get an early start and take it slow.