PCT Day 3 Trail Notes: Kitchen Creek Falls Junction to Mt. Laguna

High Point of the Day: Sunrise turned out to be pretty epic, when I first got up it really looked like it was going to fizzle out, but I kept the time-lapse running, just in case.
Low Point of the Day: I really struggled with motivation all day long. It was hard having to ask for help just two days into my hike, but I knew I wasn't ready to deal with wet snow, that might transition into freezing rain.

• Section: A

• PCT Miles: 28.6 to 41.5

• Distance Walked Today*: 14.8

• Steps for the Day*: 26878

• Temperature (Perception): A little chilly in the morning, warm during the later morning, and brisk in the afternoon as the storm started moving in

• Wind (Perception): Slight breeze on and off all day

• Cloud Cover: Patchy mares tails in the morning to overcast by 2pm

• Precipitation: None

• Trail Surface: Well graded to rocky, and several sections of slushy snow

• Terrain: Rolling hills

• ⭐⭐⭐ Weather

• ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Difficulty

• ⭐⭐ Physical Energy

• ⭐⭐⭐ Scenery

• ⭐⭐ Mental State

• Number of photos for the day: 136

• Total time-lapse sequences: 2

• Number of video clips: One per miles and at camp in the morning

Overview:

Woke up early today at 5am. Ugh. Fortunately, it seems easy to adjust to trail time. I was in my sleeping bag by 7:15 and asleep by 7:45, which meant I grabbed 9 hours or so of sleep. I was sore, but it was relatively easy to start moving. My foot pain slowly escalated through the day. Yesterday, I called my mom to see if she would pick me up at Mt. Laguna to wait out the storm. Fortunately, she was able to grab me, and it gave me the opportunity to switch out a little gear and get a new water filter. I made it to Mt. Laguna by 3pm, picked up my first resupply package and grabbed a burger at the Pine House Cafe & Tavern.

Observations (wildlife, plants, views, etc.)

• First, "real", flowing water at Long's Canyon (I would have filtered water if I needed it).

People on the Trail:

• Pepper is now Moshpit (his AT trail name)

Cheers & Jeers (Gear, Food, etc.):

My stupid water filter is still slow, I'm going to have to contact Platypus or REI and figure out a solution.
I think I waited to long to switch to my new shoes. My feet have been aching and by the end of the day I had three blisters and some swelling along the ball of my left foot.

What did I listen to?

• Still making progress on Lessons of History by the Durants. It's interesting, but a very "old" way of interpreting and discussing history.
• Listened to the first five lessons of Accelerated Spanish. We'll see if any of it sticks.