I got up well before first light to head out into the cold and down to the lake. I plugged my phone back in, gathered some water from the lake, and carried it back to the cabin to filter before packing up.
The sun rose while I was packing, so once I had my things removed from the cabin, I walked back down to the lake to fetch my phone (which had only gotten 10% battery from the very low current trickle in the past hour) and returned to the cabin for photos. Then I made sure the propane heater was off and locked up the cabin again.
Across the street at the trailhead, I was not even a quarter mile up the spur before I had to stop to dig a hole. It was still pretty cold, but at least the sun was well up.
It was probably 8am by the time I made it back to the PCT proper, so I promptly stopped for my morning snack, but after that I had no reason to stop until lunch.
The trail was kind of plain again in terms of scenery, though it did pass ponds and lakes on a regular basis all day.
In the afternoon, I passed a pack sitting beside the trail. A bit later, a light mist started to turn into actual rain, so I stopped to change into rain clothes. Owl caught up to me then. It was his pack I had passed while he was in the woods filling his own hole. He had called to me, but I had not heard him over the podcast I was listening to. He said the others were all ahead. I said I was planning to camp at Stormy Lake. He said he and the others were planning to push on to the next lake after thanks to complaints about the wind at Stormy. I had no intention of doing that. It meant another hour of hiking in the rain after sunset. Besides, I would have no need to pitch a tent the next night and so could make it a bigger day.
So, I camped alone at Stormy Lake, warm and dry in my tent as the rain continued. outside.
Total distance: 18.5 miles
Trail progress: 17 miles
