Short hiking day. The plan Is to Nero in julian/stagecoach. I hike the super easy 7 miles in and as I'm about to hitch a ride in with fell hiker Matt a trail angle "Rangel" drives up and offers to take us in. In julian I get the famous free pie and hot chocolate, amazing and so worth it. Get a couple snacks, a burger for lunch and a sandwich for dinner and spend a couple hours getting to know new trail friends matt and jedi. Matt and I get a ride to stagecoach and we share the cost of a load of laundry and shower up. I'm a new woman now. Matt hits the trail but as it's only $3.5 more to camp here and my body needs the rest I opt to stay. I expected more hikers to show up, but after the store here closes this place feels like a ghost town. Luckily the laundry room has a library and I pick up a jack reacher novel to read for the evening. I also picked up a new sun hat in the hiker box (washed in the laundry). All and all good day. Pretty sure there is a bubble of hikers right behind me that holed up at mt.laguna during the rain. Hoping to meet some new folks soon.