The night was beautiful but as mentioned the sleep was not that great.  Get an early start in the morning.  It is really still dark and I use my headlamp for about the first hour.  I am shocked to meet a couple along the trail that was also already up and walking.  I only take two pictures during hike today.  One rather early trying to catch the trail and the early light and the other when I stopped by a creek.  In the early morning picture you can see that it shows another hiker on the trail walking toward me.  I honestly do not remember him at all and when I saw him in the picture it was a big surprise.  He almost appears to be posing.

At mile 1468 I get to Ash Camp and McClound River.  This is a beautiful area and the river is large and has a bridge going across it.  I  have no idea why I stopped taking pictures.  I should have had many from this area.  It is about 2 pm and so perhaps my brain has just shut  down.  Lenora and I had talked about her meeting me here but for some reason I was just not sure we had a solid date.  When I got here there was a rather large group of other hikers but they did not appear to be interested in having company.  Or, more likely, perhaps I did not feel like having company.  It is a lot easier to blame them, so I will.  Anyway, I sit down in an open area by the road coming into the camp and start to prepare a lunch.  I really don’t want to eat but know that I must.  I get it half prepared and leave it sitting there for a while attempting to get the nerve to choke it down.  While I am waiting up drives Lenora!!!  YEA!!!  So cool I am at a place where she can reach me and she has come.  She comes with cold root beer and cookies.  Now for some reason I can drink the cold root beer (2 of them) and the cookies (4 of them) but the cheese and salmon on a tortilla just looks horrid.  There was also a chocolate mint which I had no trouble eating.  Lenora and I stayed there for about an hour.  We shared some of the magic (cookies and drinks) with another hiker (Obi-Wan) who was very appreciative.  We tried to offer some magic to a couple other hikers  (in the group mentioned earlier) as they went by but they either did not hear us or choose to ignore us.

Lenora’s Note:  I woke with stiff shoulders again but Don decided he wants his cheese and a cold root beer so I load up the cooler and add the mint candy we bought in Quincy and some oreos.  Off I go to Ash Creek camp missing the message that says, “I guess you are not coming.”  Blissfully unaware that we might not meet I go on.  Roads are paved most of the way and the short unpaved sections are well graded.  When I arrive Don is sitting staring at a tortilla with thick slabs of cheese on it.  I’m delighted to see him but note he looks tired and sore.

I had another long 10 mile ascent ahead of me and I knew I would not make the top but wanted to get some of it done.  I  hiked for another 3 miles or so and stopped at Butcherknife Creek.  Another beautiful spot.

As I was just sitting admiring the view another hiker past by me, went ahead a little bit, then turned back and ask if it was ok for him to sit and rest for awhile.   Everyone always asks.  The answer is always of course YES.  Anyway his name is Alabama (cause that is where he is from).  He decided to do the trail after high school with a buddy of his.  His buddy quit after 5 days but Alabama kept on going.  Really nice young man.  He indicated we wanted to spend a day in Mt. Shasta and asked if it was hard to get there.  Not at all I said and I gave him Lenora’s number and told him to call when he got to Interstate 5 and she would be happy to pick him up.  I then texted Lenora to warn her she would get a call from a Southern Gentlemen. Alabama looked at me and said “Now that is trail magic”.  I had to agree.  We talked a bit more while he ate a candy bar and then he went on as his destination for the night was Ash Camp.

So I had a 16 mile day.   Not bad but not great considering how early I had started.   Lunch stayed down.  Dinner that night did not.

Phone says 34000 steps and 33 flights.  That ain’t much!

Lenora continues:

After leaving Don at Ash Camp I take a leisurely drive back down the mountain and get some great views of McCloud Lake.  This lake is an incredible color that the pictures fail to capture, but I tried.

On the way down I cross the PCT on a paved area of the road and wonder why we couldn’t meet here?

We will not stay in McCloud but I wanted to check it out and found St. Joseph Catholic Church easily.

Today I finished the second of my unfinished needlepoints, It is called Witch Hilda’s Tree and the spider webs took about as long as the rest of the piece to stitch.

Framed up my next unfinished project “Witch on the Town” but couldn’t raise the energy to stitch.  It was a full day.