Cynthia made us scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, and Beast and I decided to push our planned 8:00 departure to 10:30, since we weren't finished packing and we were only going about 11 miles.
We said our thanks and goodbyes to Cynthia, and Philip drove us to the trailhead for the last time. Cynthia and Philip were awesome hosts, and they really made the last few days much easier on us. We'll be hard-pressed to get this much hospitality again for so long anywhere else on the trail.
I say this every time out of town, but I think this time my pack really is heavier than it's ever been before.
We got started, moving slower than usual under the weight of full packs after a nero, three days of slackpacking, and a zero. My knees were definitely unhappy with me, but fell in line after a few miles.
The early part of the hike brought us to a pasture with a great view at the top. Shortly beyond that was the 1/3 point of the trail (an unremarkable place in the woods a tenth of a mile before a fence).
Towards the end of the day, we had to stop and wait for a rather large snake to finish crossing the trail.
Otherwise, today was mostly unremarkable. We made it to our destination, the Wilson Creek Shelter, a little after 4 pm, grabbed spaces in the shelter, and did everything we usually do in the evening.