June 12

Given the late night, it was a somewhat later wakeup but it doesn't take long for things to heat up once the bright sun rises.

The rest of the detour followed the Burkhart trail back to the PCT and however short it was it sure was nice, in the forest along a really nice creek, soft with pine needles.

The uphill early in the day wasn't particularly hard but in the growing heat and with the short night of sleep, I sure was dragging. Actually missed a turn off of the wider (old jeep road?) trail we were climbing. Stopped to check the map and noted that the PCT recrossed the trail I was on again, so I continued on and regained the trail again. But when I stopped the annoying little gnats did begin to swarm a bit so back out with the headnet. Headnets are such a sanity saver - one of the most favorite pieces of gear, especially for its weight.

Most of the late morning and afternoon was spent hiking near a twisty highway which featured loads of motorcycles (assuming out of LA) screaming and rumbling by on the new black asphalt. Made me miss my bike and reminded me of all the great twisty roads in Colorado and the good riding weather I'm missin out on.

Took a nice 15 minute nap in a shady spot under a tree but still felt tired despite. Still bugged by a blister on my outside toe.

Soon after dark, Flip Flop and I camped on the side of dirt road maybe a mile into a detour due to fire damage. Drained the blister before crashing for the night. Amazing how bright the moon gets out here.

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Location:Station fire detour dirt road, mile 414-ish