Day 107

Smoke.

We returned to the trail and the mountains are enveloped with smoke coming from a controlled forest fire down the valley. As we hiked along the ridge, we could see where the fire was down below. The sun was barely penetrating through the thick cloud of smoke, which may have contributed to a cooler weather.

The cool breeze, perhaps coming from the coast, as we are within 30 miles of the Pacific Ocean, helped this otherwise a hot day. After lunch, we made our way up couple of rocky switchbacks towards a little pass, where patches of snow still exists. This section reminded us of the Sierra because of all the sharp rocks, the clear lake below formed by snow melt, and the switchbacks going over a pass.

After reaching the top, we descended only to go up several switchbacks until the trail resumed near the top of the ridge. This section also has several burned areas, where trees lack any leaves, and mushrooms growing on its trunks. We then ended our day after passing a section where white marbles were abundant. We also saw some campers with goats in tow.