My hot chocolate w whipped cream!
I woke up this morning knowing it's my last at the apex. My stay has been so amazing and I loved having a place to myself. I was on the phone w usps trying to figure out where my pkg was that Ellie sent me. Undercover texted me they were doing breakfast at eight so I met them over there. I ordered an eggs Benny and hot chocolate! They gave it to me in this huge mug w a ton of whipped cream. I finally talked to the usps people and they were basically no help and said the tracking will update when scanned. Well duh. I just wanted to know if it even left Seattle yet.
After breakfast, we went back to the hotel to pack up for check out. I took my time and it was relaxing. My pack didn't feel TOO heavy. My food bag is just really tall. We went to ernies coffee shop to loiter and use their wifi for a bit. Me and undercover ordered a milkshake. It was really good but probably not a good idea to eat before lunch. We downloaded some more podcasts and then walked to the lake of the sky outfitter to let them know about my package status. I ended up just giving them my Belden address to forward to. I hope it arrives soon. They had this nice little hiker lounge w a couch so it was nice to sit a little.
Echo lake.
Then we plus Lavern and ranger joined us for Thai food. This place was awesome. Best Asian food so far. I ordered a Thai iced tea with bubbles and two dishes so that I could pack one out. But I wasn't super hungry so I could only eat half of one. I put the rest into my container and the other into a ziploc. Packing out leftovers is the best. We then all took an uber XL to the trailhead and was off again! It's always weird getting back on. Echo lake was really pretty and the trail wound around the edge. Passed a bunch of hikers heading back. It was pretty hot and buggy. I was moving slow since I was really full.
Lake aloha.
I finally reached lake aloha and it was so beautiful! It looked like we were back in the high sierras again. It was nearing six and I was debating on finding camp or keep walking to find the married folk. I kept walking and finally found them setting up. It was a beautiful spot. I ate my pad see ew for dinner and it was bomb. I'm happy to be back in my tent but also miss apex. I am feeling a bit refreshed for this next section and excited about all the new audio I downloaded.