Today was a cruisy day. I woke up around 6:30-7:00 am to make coffee and breakfast. I tried the Quaker Oats apple and cinnamon flavour and really liked them, even when made with only water. I’ll have to get some of them when I can. We packed up site, and unfortunately one person in the group needed to stay behind to rest a rolled ankle. Hopefully with a day or two rest, the ankle comes right and we can see them again further up the trail.

We left camp quite late, about 10:30 am. The trail was very easy going as we walked along the shore of Lake Morena. We were walking on a sandy surface, with a firm base below. A fairly gentle climb took us past a lot of good looking tent sites with views out over the desert and the lake.

The trail descended back to the valley floor and we crossed under a highway. We also made our first river crossing here, the first of many more to come.

We then followed the highway for about 20 minutes wandering through brush and grassy fields. Recrossing the river, we arriveed at Boulder oaks, a large campground with spaces for PCT hikers, RVs, caravans, and horses.

At the Boulder Oaks campground, we met a very friendly and well known volunteer ranger known as Cinderelly, who used to be known as Everyone’s Mother. She told us about all the amenities at the campground while feeding her two wild ravens which live at the campground with her. We talked for about half an hour and she told us about upcoming weather, different wildlife in the area, how to deal with rattlesnakes, bobcats, and mountain lions as well as giving us pointers on where to go in Mt Laguna which will be our stop tomorrow night.

We left Boulder Oaks and crossed under a huge highway with separated lanes supported on 20m high pillars. Immediately afterwards, the trail began to climb and we gained about 200m for a view over the valley and highway behind us.

We had a loose arrangement to regroup at Kitchen Creek water source, but we headed down to Kitchen Creek Falls instead, not realizing the other one was further ahead. The descent was quite long and steep, and I was glad to be able to turn the lid of my pack into a small backpack to bring just a few snacks, my water filter, and other small things with me. The rest of my stuff stayed up top.

We passed by the real Kitchen Creek water source about half an hour or an hour after the others left. A few people were camping here and we chatted with them on the way past. We sidled around a 4660 ft peak. We could see all the way South into Mexico, and there was some rain way down there. We expect this rain to arrive tomorrow.

Before long reached the Fred Canyon tentsite and regrouped with the others. The valley was quite dark, and colder weather was inbound. Most people cooked dinner and then headed to bed early to keep warm in tents.