April 7 - 18.0 / 258.7

Another 18 miler today. Last night was a pretty nice night even though it is getting warm. It's tough to complain about the warm evenings this time of the year, but I know extremely hot nights are just right around the corner.

The plan was to get up and out of the camp site around 7. However, we didn't make it out until 8...still not that bad. We said our goodbyes to Eric and Nicole. The first few miles were uphill to the top of Snowbird Mtn. At the top of the mountain was a few camp sites and an airplane beacon thingy. We strolled past that pretty quickly.

At 7.8 miles, we reached Brown Gap and had lunch. Sherlock, Donner, Wilson (a section hiker), and D@?# in a Box (now the name I am calling the guy who isn't afraid to show the package and short shorts) passed us. We played leap frog with the first three for the rest of the day. D in a Box kept trucking all day. We heard word at the end of the day that he was going to do 30 plus miles into Hot Springs.

We got to Max Patch today. This is one of the top places on the trail. It is old homestead and logging camp that was later turned graze land for cattle and sheep. It has also been used as a landing strip for smaller planes. Anyway, it is at 4,629 feet with 360 degree views. It was pretty amazing. Donner and Sherlock ended up taking a nap on Max Patch and getting trail magic twice.

The trail got really nice after Max Patch. It was a lot of rhoderdendran (sp?) tunnels and creeks. It was also a gradual downhill. Normally downhills give my shins problem, but this afternoon was not a problem. Eventually, we got to Walnut Mtn Shelter. At first it was empty; then quite a few people showed up.

During dinner, DM and SB started to contemplate on hiking on. They made a decision an hour later to go on. They were going to try to get the 12 miles knocked out tonight or they will stop when they get tired. I like the idea of a challenge, but I am going to rest the legs. I will catch up with those two in Hot Springs tomorrow. We will then get picked up by Dark Star's family.

I am craving a milk shake so I plan to get one at the Diner tomorrow. I need to get up early to get going before the rain gets here. So I am off to bed.

Night, fellow hikers not actually hiking the trail.