Back in the saddle

Slept well last night. It got really chilly and it was tough to climb out of my nice warm bag.  We got a little bit of a late start. The trail today was pretty nice. 

Great wildflowers.  We came to our first spot with actual running water. Climbed down a steep side trail to Kitchen Creek. Loaded up and filtered a bunch of water 

And soaked our feet. It was great. We probably saw about 4 or 5 people all day, but we laughed, because it never fails, when you decide you need to go to the bathroom, inevitably, someone happens along. So the quote of the day was, "if you're lonely, just pull down your pants ." Ha!

We got to a really nice campsite at about 5 and there was a good little group there.

Sat around and ate dinner and chatted. I opted to start the hike without my stove. I used it some on the AT, but towards the end it was just taking up room in my pack.  I eat a lot of tuna and tortillas.  A LOT of tuna and tortillas :).  

The last time I backpacked any real distance was on the AT two years ago. After hiking for 5 months, we were pretty fit so it was easy to do big miles. I didn't expect to be at that level starting here, but it's pretty humbling starting up again.

Early to bed tonight (as though last nights bedtime of 8:30 was late) so we can get an early start in the morning.  It's so great to be back in my tent :)