Temps were very mild this morning even at 5000+ feet of elevation. I was hoping that wasn’t a sign of what was to come later in the day!

The smokey haze makes for an eerie sunrise.

Most of the day was either hiking above treeline through dry desert landscapes …

..or densely wooded forests (most of the day) providing much needed shade. It wasn’t quite as hot as the last several days since the trail stayed at higher elevations (5000′-7500′).

This deer walked about 20′ ahead of me down the trail for a couple hundred yards…could have cared less about me.

I called it quits a couple miles earlier than I had planned when I saw this great campsite…there was even a creek nearby, which have been rather scarce the last couple days.

Tomorrow is a shorter day into Sierra City (“city” in the loosest sense of the word). Maybe I can give my feet a good scrubbing, perhaps even a shower! Plus, I have some new shoes waiting for me. My current shoes gave me 650 tough miles and are starting to get more holes than I care to mend…although plenty of other hikers out here would squeeze another 250mi+ out of these.