Grand scenery and water. I walked out of the campground at 6:30 on a gravel road then along US Hwys 64 and 84 for half a mile to a trail junction. In a quarter mile, I met Timber who had also stayed in the campground. As it happened, his cell phone stopped working. Thus, he had no access to the essential GutHook cell phone app for navigation. We hiked together the last rest of the day. We walked thru subalpine forests and meadows for 8 miles to a stream where we got water. Afterwards we lost the trail for 20 minutes before I realized my error. More hiking thru dry and moist meadows and forests of spruce and fir trees. In 5 miles, we crossed Rio San Antonio then climbed to the northern top of the valley. The views of the valley were super (see photo). We ran into 2 section hikers with huge packs. We found water in three streams over the next 5 miles. About 5 pm, we reached a cluster of small lakes, Lagonitas. In view of the upcoming 12 mile dry stretch, we cooked dinner in a primitive campground then gathered water from a lake. It turned out that I miscalculated my dinners and had none. Timber kindly gave me one of his. Onward and upward for another 3 miles to a road crossing where we found great camp sites. 22.4 miles today with the best combination of scenery, water, and trail of the trip.
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