The 1:45 drive to the TH was unremarkable except for the billowing dust on FS-20 and FS-2025. It was another beautiful day to be out on the trail with the temperature warming up from the mid-60s to the low-70s under a cloudless sky.

We started out enjoying bovine bell choirs although we only actually saw a single cow through the trees. We met our second PCT through hiker who told us that he had started at the Mexican border but had skipped the snowy sections in the Sierras and intends to return later in the season to complete the missed segments.

Once we got up to the ridge we had nice views of the Red Buttes to the West and Shasta to the South, along with spots of snow on the trail. Wildflowers were out in abundance and the springs and creeks were flowing nicely.

We enjoyed lunch on a 7,000' knob above the PCT with 360o views starting with the Red Buttes and wrapping around to Mt. Eddy, Black Butte, Shasta, Pilot Rock, Mt. Ashland and Mr. McLoughlin. Quite a contrast to the last time we were here in 2014 when the only view we had was of the fog.

On the way home we stopped in Jacksonville at Boomtown for hearty refreshments.