We woke up already at 5:15am because today we planned on doing a big mileage – anything between 25-30miles (40-48km). By 6am we were back on trail and picked up our pace. It was getting warm pretty quickly but the terrain wasn’t too bad and we would mostly be under the trees anyway so I wasn’t suffering that much. Before 12pm we climbed up a hill and got some reception at the top. We took a break there together with “Stich”, a girl from Oregon who camped next to us last night and who we have been seeing for some time since we started. We chatted a bit and then we slowly got going again because we saw some dark clouds rolling in. Today there was another thunderstorm forecasted but we were hoping to get lucky just like yesterday. Before hitting 20 miles (32km) we had to cross a road a guess what surprised us. Trail magic! It’s been a while. There was a guy “All in” from San Francisco who has done the triple crown and some other hikes and when we got there he offered us some sodas, fruits, veggies, hummus, etc. That made our day so much better.

Stich was there and few more hikers showed up as well. Around 4pm we helped All in packed all the stuff and then we got going. It did not take us long and we heard a thunder and saw some angry clouds above us. Unfortunately we ended up being rained on at least for an hour and if that wasn’t enough it also hailed on us. Within minutes we were soaked. My rain gear worked for maybe the first 10 minutes and I hoped putting my groundsheet around Connie would make her somewhat dry. I put my quilt in a pack liner in the morning but was worried about the rest. There were lightnings and thunders I have never experienced before. Me, Stefi, Ann and Lorenz stuck together but kept distance between us. One part of the trail was a bit more exposed so rather than going there in the middle of the storm we waited for a bit and hiked out again when everything calmed down. Everything was soaked so after 3 more miles (4.8km) we decided to set up our tents and change into dry clothes. Most of my things ended up being dry which made me really happy. Also we ended up doing 25 miles (40km) which isn’t too bad but tomorrow we will try to push even more.