Tonight was a very cold night. I woke a couple of times and had to put socks on to try and keep my feet warm. Despite that I actually slept alright. When I got up around 0600 there was frost on my sleeping bag a testament to how cold the night had been.
I was very allow in getting started but when I did the early morning cold temperatures made for excellent hiking. My plan was to make it to at least Mount Laguna and preferably beyond.
I had a couple of small breaks and experienced my first trail magic at Boulder Oaks Campground where there were tangerines and trail angel Blue Moon dropped of some cupcakes.
The trail crossed a few roads and after one road crossing I encountered my first rattlesnake. I was walking along and suddenly heard rattling, I jumped back and saw the snake coiled up course to the trail some 10 ft ahead of me. It did not move even after I threw some rocks so I dried a bit off trail to avoid it. The next couple of hours I looked very carefully for snakes.
During lunch I dried my sleeping bag and some clothes on the sun. After about 30 minutes I went on again. I encountered a lot of the hikers that started the day before me as the trail climbed towards Mount Laguna.
Once I reached Mount Laguna I resupplied with WAY too much food for the stretch to Warner Springs. I also swallowed an ice cream. After that I got the cafe for a burger and some fries, the cafe is a popular hiker spot so I talked a bit about plans for the next section. If you are keeping track that is 2 out of 2 days with burgers on the PCT. I think that is about to change in the upcoming section though.
I decided to head out of Mount Laguna as I did not want to sleep at a campground again. 4.5 miles from Mount Laguna I found a somewhat sheltered spot near a peak at 6000 ft.
It is supposed to be another very cold night so I decided to use my bivy. The spot has the most amazing view and another guy had turned up to watch the sunrise in the morning. I have not made any specific plans for when I pack up. I guess I will see when I feel like it, I would like to be on the trail earlier than yesterday.