A couple of things:
I know you think your ph will come up on its own, but since 6.8 is probably the lowest value on your tester, the ph actually could be much lower. Any reading below 7.0 is acidic and can damage your pool. I'd go ahead and add a couple of cups of 20 Mule Team Borax slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running. Wait a few hours, retest ph and redose until you at least get it to 7.2.

Also, you need to get some chlorine in there or you'll be surprised how quickly your pool will turn green. Since I assume that you still have not added any stabilizer (cya), you can do one of two things. You can either use trichlor pucks to chlorinate with which also contain cya. You say that you usually have high ph. Trichlor is acidic and will drive your ph down with use. If you do decide to use trichlor, you'll need to test your cya level periodically. After you get it where you want it, (I like 30-40ppm of cya), then you'll need to discontinue the trichlor and just use bleach. Another option is to go ahead and just add an initial dose of cya and then just use bleach to chlorinate with. That is what I do. Add enough cya per the label instructions to get you to a level of about 30. (Pour it directly into the skimmer.) Then be patient. CYA takes a long time to dissolve in your filter, so don't backwash or add more for about a week. Then, retest your cya level before deciding if you need to add any more. You want to go slowly. You can always add more cya, but reducing it isn't as easy.

Until you get a cya reading in your pool, you'll have to watch your chlorine level closely as you will quickly lose the chlorine to the sun. As your cya level comes up, this won't happen so fast. Hope this helps.

Watermom