Day 73 – Echo Lake

Miles: 1076.9 to 1101.7 Trail Miles: 24.8 I woke at 5:18 AM and saw other hikers were already packed and getting on the trail. Everybody was in a hurry today to get to South Lake Tahoe. They were moving at what we call “town speed.” Momento and Waterfall were up and Sage, who’d camp with

Day 72 – Carson Pass

Miles: 1055 to 1076.9 Trail Miles: 21.9 After a restless night I was on the trail at 0630. The fall I took leaving Tuolumne Meadows 6 days before, when I landed on my left rib cage, was still bothering me. It was hard to find a comfortable sleeping position. I couldn’t cough, sneeze or even

Day 71 – Managing Mileage and Energy

Miles: 1029.7 to 1055.0 Trail Miles: 25.3 Awoke at 0500. On the trail by0630. I’m hoping to do 25 Miles. I may wind up ahead of Waterfall and Momento. Its going to happen with my resupply schedule eventually. They’re going into S Lake Tahoe. I’m not. But they’ll catch me again no doubt. Something about

Day 70 – Trail Magic at Sonora Pass

Miles: 1016.9 to 1029.7 Trail Miles: 12.8 I had a good nights sleep in the tent at the Deadman’s campground. I packed up and went back to the resort at Kennedy Meadows North. The resort was packed with campers, hikers and horse people. It was a busy weekend. It was also my anniversary. When I

Day 69 – Kennedy Meadows North

Miles: 998.9 to 1016.9 Trail Miles: 18 We had camped less than 2 Miles from Yosemite’s northern border last night and already the scenery and terrain was beginning to change. Although we were still in the Sierras, the massive granite peaks were being replaced with mountains of volcanic origin. What I believe are slate or

Day 68 – Leaving Yosemite

Miles: 975.8 to 998.9 Trail Miles: 23.1 Waterfall, Momento and I were in the trail around 0730 -earlier than I’d been in days. It’d been a beautiful campsite, if not for the mosquitoes. Today was a close repeat of yesterday. The trail would steeply climb a granite ridge, then just as steeply descend to the

Day 67 – Benson & Seavey Passes

Miles: 957.3 to 975.8 Trail Miles: 18.5 Even without an alarm, I woke up around 0500. I didn’t get on the trail until 0840, so it was a leisurely morning – I cooked a hot breakfast and worked on yesterday’s blog. Scooch emerged from her tent as I was putting my pack on to leave.

Day 66 – Saying Goodbye, Leaving Tuolumne

Miles: 942.5 – 957.3 Trail Miles: 14.8 Miles Hiked: 14.8 Today was mine and HH’s last day together until September. I took my time packing up. I wanted to linger and stretch out our remaining time. After a late breakfast at Toomey’s, our favorite restaurant in Mammoth, we drove up to Yosemite. It was a

Day 65 – Zero with HH

Mile Marker: 942.5 Trail Miles: 0 HH flies home in a few days. Rather than than spend our last night together in the Tuolumne Campground, sleeping in a tent, we went back to the condo in Mammoth. It was only a 50-minute drive even though it’d taken me 2 days hiking. While a part of

Day 64 – Donahue Pass

Miles: 923.1 to 942.5 Trail Miles: 19.4 Miles Hiked: 20 It was windy and cold last night, 32 deg inside the tent. I’d camped near other hikers, but it was the first time in awhile that I had camped without my trail family. The wind buffeting the tent had made for a restless night, so