Lake Morena to Mount Laguna
21.5 Miles
Mile 41.5
Didn’t sleep great. My cheap ear plugs provided little protection from the snores coming from the tent next door. This coupled with the unrelenting turkey gobbles had me out of bed by 630.
Breakfast consisted of coffee and a protein shake with entertainment provided by my three Aussie pals. Huddled around a picnic table we exchanged plans for the upcoming day and laughs from the previous night.
Two new faces approached our table and introduced themselves as Swede and Captain Awesome, from New Jersey and Florida respectively. Turns out they had gotten into camp late the previous night. Like me they plan to make it to Mt Laguna tonight, so maybe I’ll see them there.
I say my goodbyes and hit the trail by 745.
Within minutes I ran into Happy, who had stayed at a casino down the road with his girlfriend the previous night. Happy, is in his late 40s. He worked for SAP most of his career, but decided to leave that behind after getting the hiking bug back in 2013. As we walked together for the next few miles I learned of his adventures in Japan, Nepal and rafting the Grand Canyon. He’s a positive dude that I enjoy hiking with, but our paces are different so it’s tough to stick together for long.
I carried on alone again for the next hour or so until I turn a corner and run into Nico (the dude with the hilarious poo hole story I mentioned yesterday).
BOOM BAM! Just the person I was hoping to see. He seemed pleased with the trail name I had come up with, so henceforth he’ll be referred to as Landmine.
After splitting off from Landmine I begun the 3000 ft ascent to Mt Laguna. Within hours I had traded in the desert for the forrest. Most of the day was perfect, with a nice breeze and cloud coverage to keep me cool. I passed hikers Jeff, Bill and Steve on my way up the mountain.
Around 3 the sky finally opened up. No biggie, threw the rain jacket on and kept trucking. I reached Mt Laguna around 4 and quickly threw up my tent and chucked my stuff inside. With the rain still falling, I cruised over to the Pine House Cafe & Tavern to stuff my face with food and beer.
As I walked into the tavern I was greeted by the waitress Katie, who directed me to the “hiker table”. I can only assume they reserve the table in the corner for smelly people such as I. I get it….anyways, I promptly order a large garden salad with chicken, large basket of fries and a Stone IPA. It was legendary.
Over the next hour eight other hikers joined me at the “hiker table”. Some faces I knew, some were new, but all were cool dudes.
Steve and Jeff made it, but I never did see Bill.
Captain Awesome and Swede got in right before closing.
One of the new guys, Caden, had lost his tent poles earlier in the day. I guess he was able to make his tent still work, but with the heavy rain and wind tonight I feel bad for him.
A another great day ending with good people and good food.
