Today we also got up at 5:30am and left our tentsite by 6:20am. I got a good sleep but could have lasted longer (as always). The morning was rather slow, Stefi’s feet were still hurting so she was taking it easy. My shoulders were getting slightly better and Connie thanks god lighter. Just like yesterday we wouldn’t meet that many PCT hikers today but that’s probably because a lot of them have skipped this section. We have been keeping an eye on the fire situation and air quality but nothing within a close proximity. Moreover, the views were stunning today so I am even more grateful that we did not have o skip this part. The only drawback was the trail going up and down all the time. The morning reminded us of the desert section while the afternoon looked like the Sierras. We even got to see another rattlesnake! Yes, they are also in NorCal.

In the evening we had our last climb – with gorgeous views again – and at 7pm we were finally descending to the Etna Summit Trailhead where we wanted to camp. During our way down we passed the 1 600 mile marker (2 560km) so soon we will have less than 1 000 miles (1 600km) till the Canadian border! Once we got to the trailhead we found a nice spot for our tents and then started making our dinner. A lot of cars were passing surprisingly still at this hour (already passed 8:20pm) and one even stopped at the trailhead. It happened to be a guy that belonged to the fire duty crew that has been traveling around the country whenever there is a fire warning. He informed us that there will be around 20 of them camping as well and brought us some snacks! Plus he looked good – firefighter you know. From tomorrow noon there is a thunderstorm warning that will last the next three days. The guy also told us that this area catches a lot of lightnings and hence is more prone to wildfires. Hopefully we will make it out of this area before it starts so fingers crossed. At least tonight we feel safe being around 20 firefighters.