It was appropriately hazy this 4/20 on the trail, which I'm finding I prefer. I don't mind throwing on a rain jacket to avoid all the bugs and the heat of the sun. I'm already hot and sweaty enough thank you very much.
Today went swimmingly. My knees stopped hurting and I was able to walk without frustration. We only did the 9.5 miles today as planned, but there was still a lot of climbing and it was strenuous. I left early, and Tim stayed hoping that his socks might dry (they got rained on). About 5 miles in I bumped into CVS on the trail so we hiked together. The topic of conversation mostly revolved around movies and food. Food is an ever present topic though.
After a bit Tim caught up and joined the conversation. We made good time, exhausted ourselves, and pulled into the shelter around 4pm.
This is one of the nicer shelters we've seen and it even had a loft.
By 6 the rest of our crew from the night before had pulled in, along with Olde English and many others. It's a hoppin' shelter tonight! Beast Zone maintained the fire that he built with Tetley, and after we all stuffed ourselves, we filed in around the flames. I've heard it called hiker television, and that seems apt.
A few stragglers pulled in after sunset, quickly attempting to make camp. There really are a lot of interesting people out here, and it's good to have a day that was smiles from beginning to end.
Tomorrow we hit town for an all you can eat steak joint, and then a plan for nothing other than partying; though a real shower will be almost as exciting. My first week is in the bag and I'm still happy to be here. Happier each day.