Woke up refreshed and started hiking around 7 in the morning. Trying Carnation Instant Breakfasts for this section and so I start out the day with a chocolate one. Not bad and as it turns out seems to work pretty good for morning energy and so will continue to use them. I have decided to fix all my meals for the day (except the evening meal) before I get going. It is just too much trouble to keep getting the bear canister at the bottom of the pack. So I fix a tortilla and summer sausage and cheese sandwich, take out the GU energy packets, get a smoked salmon package out, and 4 double Oreo mint cookies. These are the things I will eat through the day when the need and mood strikes me. The cookies are generally the first to go, the smoked salmon the last.

There is nothing spectacular that happens during the day. Thinking and praying about the Doctor and seem to be very interested in wild flowers today and notice some ones I have not seen before that I remember. So I get some pictures of wild flowers. Make it to mile 972 by Piute Creek where there are some nice campsites. I need to stop and this seems like a good place. I expect I will get joined by others as there are a number of great campsites but nobody shows up. I have not seen any PCT hikers going my way for the last two days. I expect I am truly at the end of the pack of PCT’ers. There are a number of people that are just wandering around Yosemite and also a fair number that are doing a hike from South Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows.

Here are some wildflowers that caught my attention

Lenora’s Note:
Hotel life is interesting. We have a big house for two people and to spend a week or more in a small room with two cats changes the dynamic of interaction. They quickly seem to adapt, find a favorite spot and snooze much of the day. I notice they are not playing as much this week but they seem to delight in looking out at the world so we have figured out how to wedge the playpen into the open doorway so they can be almost outside with not real risk of them getting out of the room and they both spend hours looking out as the cleaning crew and maintenance man move around the motel cleaning room after room. Often hotel neighbors come by and say hi and of course there are new people every day. I am stitching as much as I can and spend a whole day watching back to back episodes of Star Trek and enjoy greatly seeing Captain Picard, Data and all the cast again. I have not heard yet if Don is going to try the new doctor or if he will agree to go see the old doctor’s PA since we are told new patients cannot see the old doc until September. At least today they do tell me I can get an appointment on the coming Thursday with the PA so I make it, just in case Don cannot face starting with a new doctor and we have to pursue getting the old doc to take him back as a patient.