June 30 day 62 camped mile 961.2 hiked 18.7 miles today
Had a big breakfast at the grill. Got cooking alcohol. Tasted the “soda springs” in Tuolumne. Tasted of iron. Had a beautiful hike along the Tuolumne river. Lots of people for the first few miles. Had a well deserved bath in a creek with a nice flat rock for sunning.
July 1 day 63 camped mile 979.6 hiked 18.4 miles today.
I was really in the thick of it mosquito wise today. Camped on Kerrick creek low and swarming with the little buggers. Entering and exiting the tent resulted in a dozen or so mozzies entering. Ack!
July 2 day 64 camped mile 998 Dorothy Lake Pass hiked 18.4 miles today.
This was a hard day for me. I was driven a bit crazy by the mosquitoes. I camped at the “pass” but it was sandwiched between two lakes. Had a fantastic view but it was best observed thru the mosquito net of my tent.
July 3 day 65 stayed Kennedy Meadows Pack Station PCT mile 918.3 hiked 20.3 miles today.
Today was an adventure. I climbed the long high volcanic ridges south of Sonora Pass. I got caught in lightning storm. It was a mixture of rain and hail. I was moving fast. Arrived at Sonora drenched. Cooked dinner with my back against a tree. Hail covered the ground making it white. Got a ride to Kennedy Meadows Resort. Washed cleaned and dried everything. Met up with Aloha his wife and Tears for Beers and shared a room with them.
July 4 day 66 camped mile 1032.8 walked 14.5 miles today.
Had a huge breakfast at the Lodge sent out my bear canister along with a few other things. The pack is much lighter without that extra stuff. Picked up fuel, communicated via email etc. Eventually I walked up the side road up to the highway and hitched a ride to Sonora Pass. The sky was threatening and not wanting to have a repeat of the previous day I booked it up and over into some more really lovely country.
July 5 day 67 camped mile 1059.3 walked 27 miles today.
June 6 day 68 camped mile 1084.1 Showers Lake walked 24.8 miles today.
July 7 day 69 camped mile 1101.5 Aloha Lake hiked 17.5 miles today.
Made it to Echo lake today and resupplied at the little market. No alcohol for the stove but I had enough to squeak by. Made myself a huge sandwich with a loaf of bread and 1/2 pound of ham. Camped on the shore of Aloha lake. It was super windy so cowboy camping was mandatory as my tent would never take that much wind. Had a nice chilly dip in the lake around sunset.
July 8 day 70 camped mile 1128 hiked 26.5 miles today.
Finished walking thru Desolation Wilderness. It’s well named undulating granite with a thin cover of trees. The big event today was seeing a bear in the late afternoon. I came within about 20 feet of it on or near the trail. I thought that was a bit too close so I backed up down the trail while reaching for my camera. Got a couple of shots of the very fuzzy brown colored bear.
July 9 day 71 camped mile 1151.2 hiked 23.2 miles today.
Hiked thru a mixture of granitic and volcanic peaks. Walked thru Squaw Valley ski area. No apparent mountain bike activity like Mammoth. Saw a Pica today which seemed strange as it was in a forested area below what I would think was it’s normal range.
July 10 camped mile 1170.5 hiked 19.3 miles today.
Hiked to Highway 40 near Donner Pass and hitched a ride to Soda Springs. Not much selection of food as there was no fuel available. Saw lots of people hiking around the pass. Got off track and used the GPS on a side trail to get me back to the PCT. had a nice cowboy camping spot with a view. I’ll cowboy up until the mosquitos are moderate.
July 11 stayed mile 1197.5 Sierra City at the Red Moose hiked 27 miles today.
It was a long day through a mixture of forest types. Saw a lot of selective logging where individual trees are taken out but the overall forest remains relatively intact and healthy. New tree species are beginning to appear. Incense cedar are replacing Juniper as the shaggy old tree. Saw some Alder and Big Leaved Maple also.
Got into town pretty late but not too late for Larry’s Gut Buster burger at the general store. It was a full pound patty with cheese and bacon and all the trimmings. I could barely get my mouth around it. Managed to also get my laundry done.