Today was a cold one. I woke up about 6:30 am and half of camp was making coffee, the other half were packing up already. Everyone wanted to get moving, and cleared out by 7:30 am.

We started with a moderate climb from the tentsite up to the junction with the road leading to Cibbets Flat campground. At this point the vegetation became more sparse, much like the subalpine vegetation higher up in Arthur’s Pass. The conditions also became more exposed and the trail started climbing more sharply.

I was soon up on a ridge looking down to the junction and seeing clouds not so far above. The air was much colder than it was yesterday and the weather seemed to have arrived as promised. The trail above led up into the clouds.

After an hour or so, the trail flattened out. Walking became very fast and easy, but I was surrounded by mist. The feeling up here was surreal and I found it easy to flow with the trail, walking quickly to keep the warmth in my jacket.

Throughout the day, the clouds promised to break and the sky got brighter, but the clouds never parted. As I climbed the air got colder. Eventually ice started accumulating on the ground around me.

Around lunchtime, I saw the campground at the southern end of Mt Laguna, after that the Pine House Cafe was first stop on the right. I left my pack by the entrance and walked in through a heavy wooden door. The warmth inside was so welcoming, and the hospitality and food were even better. When I walked in, one person in the group saw me and called out “Hey Skillet”. Every other hiker in the room turned to me, they’d all heard the name already, and some of these guys were 3 days ahead of me. I’m starting to wonder how far this name will go.

We spent the day in town at the cafe, followed by a quick resupply at the store, and then a few much needed beers at The Outpost tavern, another great place in Mt Laguna. The tavern was a real American mountain classic, full of taxidermy wolves, bears, deer, and even a huge moose head over the log burner, I hadn’t realized how big a moose really was. After an early dinner, we walked about half an hour south of town to set up camp outside of the restricted area, and save about $100 each on accommodation. It was cold out there, but a good test of gear for what’s to come.