We had a full car for the 3 hour drive to Lake Morena. In addition to Mark and myself, we had: 

• Suds, who like myself had hiked from Campo to Idyllwild. She was a speedy hiker. 
• Guino, who had hiked the PCT before and was picked up in Mammoth Lakes. His plan is to just hike from Campo back to Mammoth. 
• BamBam, from Slovakia.

The drive was surreal for me, seeing landmarks and towns I had recently hiked through. While the actual time was only a few days, it seemed so much longer. The focus of the the trail keeps you looking ahead to the next water source, the next campsite and the next resupply. Nothing else matters. Newspapers, TV, world events are forgotten. Well, nothing else except my feet.  😀

The afternoon was spent securing a campsite and wandering the Vender area.  The maker of my pack, ZPacks was there and I traded in my pack for the latest model. (The Hauler) I just wasn’t happy with the hip belt on my ArcBlast; The carbon fiber material was too slick and tended to slide down off my hips. Time will tell once I hit the trail if this fixes it and is worth the extra 7oz. 

I love cottage manufacturers; they really go out of their way for customer support. ZPacks is awesome!

I sat in on a seminar about Bears and called it a night because of the light rain. 

Below is the sign in desk with Guino and his Manly Mustache. 

Half-Fast