Day 5

What started out as the worst morning on trail quickly became one of the best days. Rain and condensation last night left me with a tarp wet in both sides so breaking camp was slippery business. Then the "completely reliable" water source at mile 68.4  leaked just enough water to get me to the highway where I hitched into Julian. I got lunch at the diner and filed up my water for the next long haul when a couple of hikers, the Alabama Boys, told me where some other hikers were. I hung out with them and got free pie from Mom's, an extremely hiker friendly pie shop. I got a ride back to the trail and put in a few more miles before setting up camp. The weather looks clear, so I'll try cowboy camping for the first time tonight. I can see headlights going across the valley and the stars are coming out.

Also, I saw a snake.

Steps taken today/total: 37,881/160,413
Miles walked today/total: 20.00/83.64
Elevation gained today/total: 2,498/11,768
Elevation lost today/total: 3,191/12,254