June 2nd - Cajon Pass to Ridge

Slept in this morning, luxuriating in our deluxe accommodations (ie: comfy bed, clean clothes, and freshly bathed). Decided to try out the hotel hot tub which was fantastic. Such a treat. Felt good on our sore, stiff muscles. Then pigged out at the hotel continental breakfast - I think I had one of everything. Eventually packed up just in time to make the hotel check-out deadline.

Walked to the Chevron and worked on re-supplying for our next leg of the trip. The Chevron was definitely our most difficult resupply thus far with limited options - particularly for dinner food. Ended up with Ramen and Jerky for dinner. Tom has been teaching me a thing or two on food choices. My food bag is always so huge - so I need to work on decreasing the weight and bulk of my food. In real life I would never eat beef jerky, but it's a great protein to throw into dinners instead of the pouches of chicken I used to carry. He also introduced me to .....100 bars. There a meal replacement bar that packs 400 calories and something like 23 grams of protein. Gives me at least 2 hours of energy and takes a lot less time to eat than other bars plus cereal. Peanut Butter Caramel Crunch is our favorite flavor thus far. We look forward to eating them every morning.

Went to McDonalds again for lunch. Ran into Kobie, Tom, and Spencer who just came off the trail. Good to see the guys again and have company over lunch. After lunch, we headed back on the trail. The day was cloudy and breezy so we were able to head out about 1pm. We had a big climb ahead of us. Originally I was worried about the heat and lack of water. Luckily, there was a stocked water cache along the way and with the cooler temps, we made it just fine. Had dinner with Spencer and then continued on our way - goal was to make 15 miles for the night. Unfortunately, since we were on a ridge, there were not many flat places to camp. We finally ended up finding a small bulldozed area. Tom worked his magic and made the bulldozed tracks sleeping bag friendly by putting our food bags in the deep grooves. I was skeptical at first, but it ended up being the most comfy place - the dirt seemed to fit our bodies just perfectly. We both quickly fell into a deep snooze.