A long day today. We had a leisurely morning, having breakfast and coffee, waiting for our tents and sleeping bags to dry. It didn't rain but the dew from being next to the river was intense. Beautiful scenery as usual and we were all in good spirits. Katie played ACDC on her fablet (phone/tablet) which is not very "trail aware" but listening to music for a change was fantastic.
Bumped into a ranger, she was eager to tell us about the fire rules, ie don't start one in a non-designated area and pack out your toilet paper. She also asked if we all had bear cans. We officially have to carry them until Sonora pass. After that we're planning to hitch out to Bridgeport and get rid of them/send them back. Will also be a great opportunity to eat a tub of ice cream/ burger and buy more lunch items for the last 4 days of this stretch of trail.
Also bumped into Billy Goat again, the thru hiking legend. He's walked over 40,000 miles. Our group chatted with him and Full Pint for about half an hour.
Someone told us today that we shouldn't miss Benson Lake, only a short way off the PCT. We decided to camp there. It was in the 90's today and several times we dunked our shirts in water and wore them to keep cool. We went up over Benson Pass which was grueling but beautiful and after a long descent finally reached Benson Lake. OMG. Mosquito Central!!
T and I quickly put up our tent, shoved our bags in it, ran to the lake and jumped in. Then dressed in rain gear and our head nets for protection, we went to the river which feeds the lake to filter water. The number of mosquitos was almost comical. Delaware Dave, Katie and I only spoke for a few minutes while we heated up our food as we all needed to retreat to the safety of our tents. We all agreed we'd rather sleep in our own urine than risk a bathroom trip during the night. That's how bad the mosquitos are. ;)
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