Mt. Laguna

We awoke to the usual cold morning, but this time there were low clouds and moisture in the air that kept the chill lingering all morning. We hiked our usual pace of walking an hour and then stopping to change socks and air out our feet. We really have to baby our feet until they toughen up. Blisters are best prevented rather delt with. After hiking 10 miles around noon we reached the road that lead us into Mt. Laguna. I'm not sure that it is a town, it is more of a Campground with a store and small post office. It was here that we met many other hikers, over 10 for sure. We enjoyed some microwave burritos while watching other hikers decide their pack was too heavy and they needed to mail gear home. All sorts of items were being packaged from extra clothing, to full camera and tripod gear, and even about 8 lbs worth of Ham radio gear to send Morse Code messages. He said it worked and he sent a message. I want to ask if he knew what year it was and wether or not he b!
een in Vietnam. A lot of items to carry in your pack seem like a great idea in your living room and after about 20 miles you're ready to chuck them over a cliff. Another hiker estimated he mailed home 15 lbs worth of gear, which absolutly amazed me when I saw the large size that still remained. For perspective my base weight (everthing minus food and water) is about 10 lbs. This guy just mailed home my whole pack and half of Jessica's and still seemed to have enough gear for all 3 of us. This overpacking is common for many new hikers. I'm always glad to see people lightening their pack rather getting discouraged and quitting.
We enjoyed meeting other hikers and sharing stories on a great porch. Jess particularly enjoyed the offical sign across the road that stated, "It is unlawful to throw snowballs at vehicles or their occupants." Seriously, how many snowballs does it take in the winter to get the city to post that sign?
We hiked out of the store and chose to only do 5 more miles and camp with a group of other hikers. We actually paid $2 a person to stay in a campground with water. It seemed crazy to PAY to sleep outside when we're doing that all along the trail for free. But, this was part of our sacrifice to enjoy a little hiker community. It seems you must always make some sacrifce to enjoy community.

Total miles :47.9
Miles today: 15
Camp 3: Mt. Laguna Hiker group

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