I slept in until 0730. It was a nice bed in a nice room, I didn’t want to get up. But I did, and my German neighbor and I got a ride at 9 to the trailhead. On the way we picked up Andy & Alison, so I started Devil’s Slide Trail with three friends and three others.

Naturally, I went really slow and everyone was ahead of me, but as the day wore on, because I don’t take much breaks, I ended up passing almost everyone.

That’s when I realized I still had the room key in my pocket. A key with a big brass fob. I was thinking of not carrying that to Canada, and where I could maybe mail it back. But then I saw a guy, looked like a day-hiker, and yes, he lived in Idlywild and would take the key back to the Silver Pines. The Trail provides.

Seems like it was uphill all day. You would think that you were up, even go down a few hundred feet, and then go up for another hour.

I found a campsite on Fuller Ridge about 1730. It was cool, I could see off to the west over a sea of clouds below, and off to the desert to the east. I could see the hikers on the trail, but they wouldn’t see me unless I said, “Hi”.

A nice quiet camp in the mountains. MP 188.44 for those of you keeping track.