It’s fun to look back as you’re hiking and realize you’ve made progress. Sometime after Lake Morena and before Mount Laguna I went under a highway. A little while later I turned back and realized that I had climbed a bit. I went under on the far left.

My daughter asked if the trail is hard to find/follow. Not at all. It is generally well marked and obvious. Here is the trail just outside the campground at Mount Laguna.

It was a long day, but I made it to Mount Laguna, or maybe I should say that a bunch of us got to Burnt Rancheria campground 1/4 mile away from town, and tried to camp there. The place was closed, the water was off, and I heard the front gate was locked. After a bunch of us got all settled on a site or two at the back the campground the manager came by and told us we had to leave because they weren’t open. We tried to pay, but he said no. (They open next weekend – sheesh!) It was about 7 PM when he told us and it was getting dark. He told us we could sleep anywhere that was 150 feet from the last “structure” so we packed, moved, and re-setup next to the trail outside the campgrounds. I cowboy camped (no tent, just under the stars) and at 4:30 AM it started to sprinkle a few drops so I got startled and got up quickly, packed and started hiking. Luckily it didn’t rain any more so I just continued to hike.

I still have plenty of food and hiker hunger hasn’t set in so I skipped my resupply in Mount Laguna. It was late in the day and I was tired from hiking all day the next day the store opened at 9 AM, and I wanted to start early. So I might have to conserve a bit for the next three days until Warner Spring. Adapting on the trail is all part of hiking. Hopefully this choice won’t hurt me.