Today was set to be a proper day, with a heavy pack from resupply and 12 miles to the next water source. I tried once again leaving camp without breakfast, getting on the trail just before 8 am. I could already tell that it was going to be very hot.

The trail meandered around the edge of mountains overlooking the San Felipe Valley. After a couple of hours, I saw the perfect spot to stop. There was space to unpack, get my cooker and pot out and start making breakfast. I’ve found that mixing apple & cinnamon, maple & brown sugar, and cinnamon spice oatmeal works really well. I stopped here and relaxed for maybe an hour while I ate my oatmeal, drank my coffee, and appreciated the view from my seat.

After breakfast I continued sidling around the edges of San Felipe Valley. After a couple of hours, another person from the group, Krista from Netherlands, caught up with me, she left from Julian this morning and had been pushing the pace to catch the rest. Shortly after meeting up, we stopped for lunch in a small patch of shade under a bush. It’s very hot today, the umbrellas are out and any shady spot is a prime place for lunch.

The track continued to climb gently for most of the day. About 12 miles in, I reached the campsite and water source. A water cache sat in the shade a few hundred meters below camp, there were about 2 ½ pallets of water bottles still in the cache. Another legendary trail angel providing this water and cleaning the area.

For dinner tonight I can finally cook the steak I’d been carrying since yesterday. Not only that, but I have a can of beer to go with the steak. Tonight’s epic dinner is also going to significantly lighten my pack for tomorrow, and make it easier to cram everything in too.