Caleb drops Gert and me back to Mile 314.3 so we can hike our way back to camp. We will be starting 5.5 hours earlier than yesterday. The shade is kind and the color-changing clouds keep us company while we make miles going around the hills. We see more living rabbits than we do the carcass scraps we passed dangling in the bushes.

The sun doesn’t reach us until 8, and the rooster at the nearby ranch must have been sleeping in because he’s late to crow, but as he does, the dog and sheep join in the chorus. We do some road walking and then we see the lake, the same lake we were at yesterday. It starts to heat up at 10, and I keep looking for a beach to stop at, as it seems we will walk half the circumference of this park.

Gert reminds me that if we stop now, we will have to wait hours to get back to camp, so I keep going. Caleb and Jessi pick us up where the trail crosses the camp road after 14.5 miles. Gert and I will rinse off in the outdoor shower, and I will go into the bathroom to wring my clothes out and then stand in the sun. We will try to nap while brother and sister go to rescue Rachel and Trailer Park.

He gets cold easily but knows the importance of rinsing off and lying on the dark, rough pavement to dry instead of the smoother stuff that’s lighter. Rachel will take her sweaty body amidst a family in the lake and then offer to change so our car doesn’t get wet. If only every passenger were as thoughtful.

Caleb will take them to camp first so they can set up their tents while Gert and I watch a mom and kid squirrel go about trying to look for food while also avoiding the tourists who give them no notice. We start making dinner immediately but I still want mine ready without giving the food a chance to reabsorb water, so I will eat some of my noodles and some of Caleb’s potatoes that rehydrate faster.

I snack on pickles and slice up the perfect-sized watermelon Caleb and Jessi bought so that there’s no leftovers. They also bought marshmallows but it’s hard for hikers to stay up late enough to make them. Tent time is around six, but I’m too sweaty again so I wait with Rachel for our tents to get shade and come back out later to cool off again so I can finally fall asleep.