Feels like we’ve been here much longer than 3 days. Every day is packed with random encounters and kind gestures from strangers. Such as this morning. We met up with Katie and Nick, a couple from Florida, and a bunch others. All of us went to have breakfast at Mount Laguna.
One meal consisting of eggs, bacon and pancakes later, Doug, An older man with a melancholic air around him, got up, said his goodbye to everyone and left the restaurant. Only later did we find out that he paid the bill for the entire 10 people table, all of while he’d only known for at most a single day.
Simon and I continued on, through the slowly changing landscape. Massive pine cones littered the ground, most bigger than my hand.
Simon received his trail name today, Coyote. This because of an incident on the first night, during which the high-pitched howling of hunting coyotes could be heard all across the campground. Simon, not knowing to which animals the infernal sound belonged to, threw his foodbag out of his tent in terror, fearing they might otherwise lay siege to his nylon abode. Luckily, no such thing happened and he lived to tell the tale. I didn’t notice any of this on the night itself, as I slept through the whole thing.
In the evening, we camped on the ridge, the Anza-Borrego desert looming in the background.
A guy named Brian gave us edibles, in celebration of 4/20. We’ll save those for another day.