Day 47 - Beginning of the Snow Walk. 750.8 (15.7)

Mountain House egg meals are getting difficult to eat. They are often my breakfast as they offer a good source of protein.  After packing up, I quickly made it to a water source 3 miles into the day. I desperately needed it due to me always using a couple liters for dinner (the night before) and breakfast (coffee and freezes dried eggs plus some to wash it all down). 

It was a little trek to find the water. After filtering a couple liters, I took everything out of my pack to reorganize. I'm still sorting out how everything fits in this pack (a bit of backpack Tetris). 

Met up with Leah, Lefty and BT who were resting at a nice stream near the trail. I decided lunch was in order. Oatmeal + Granola was on the menu. 

The last section of the day was quite challenging. A combination of warm soft snow, uphill and overcast conditions made me want to be at camp sooner than later. 

Still, the views are too good to pass up. Cotton Pass had lots of snow on its north pacing slope. This caused everyone, including me, to get a little lost. I wound up at a meadows (with no snow) that paralleled the PCT. I decided to walk on this until the trail turned. 

Tonight's campsite is at a small alpine lake called Chicken Lake. It rests near 11,200' and is surrounded on 2 sides by near vertical walls.  It has to be one of the coolest campsites so far. But it was actually cold, which kept me mostly in my tents cooking dinner and chatting with tent neighbors.

It started to snow, then I went to sleep.

​[wpvideo Ot4boiGJ]​

Day 46 - Beautiful Scenery. 735.1 (16.0)

I was one of the first ones up and moving around... But still the last one out of camp.  Immediately the trail starts up to a fridge around 10,800'. The entire climb was one view after another. I couldn't help myself from talking a rather massive amount of pictures. 

I stopped at a nice looking rock that I could sit on to eat lunch and let my feet rest. My left foot is still getting use to the narrower design of my Brooks PureGrits. 

About 1 mile down the trail I find part of the group taking their lunch break. I desire to keep moving after a short chat. I end up walking with Nat the 3 miles to the next water source. She has been in Boulder, CO for the last few years going to school. 

A side note about the Sierras; there is water everywhere. Which is one of the greatest things ever. No longer do I need to overload my pack to the point of discomfort.  

After filling up 3 liters of water (there is no water at my planned campsite and I can easily use 1 liter and night and 1 liter in the morning), it was an uphill climb to a little more than 11,000'. This is the highest I've been on the trail so far, not to mention highest campsite so far as well. 

During the climb a few thunderstorms roll by and drop mostly hail. I decided against putting on all my rain gear due to the fact it was only hail and I was in a good rhythm and didn't want to stop. 

At the top, about half the group was already setup and I quickly did the same. Ate dinner over a nice lookout that was right next to my tent. As the sun went down, it became rather chilly, so I made for my tent. 

Day 45 - Into The Sierras. 719.1 (16.9)

Today was a great day.  Woke up at 5:00 am to be ready to hit the trail by 7:30. It took some time to organize my new pack. I can be very nit picky on where I place items. I do my best to make it so all the things I want while hiking, is accessible without taking my pack off (phone, headphones, music, sunscreen etc.).

The group gathered in the parking lot before hitting the trail (mainly because that was the only place with sun at this hour). There are very few times when the group walks together, ever. This was one and it was fun. Soon people stopped to re-tie their shoes, adjust their pack, or go pee. With resulted in everyone hiking separately per usual. 

I stopped around mile 6 to dry out my rain fly, which had ice on it this morning. There Lefty caught up and we hiked for a short while together. 

The next area was burned badly many years ago. The trail wasn't cleared of all of fallen down trees, which made it challenging to get into a rhythm. 

Shortly after the burn, the trail opened up to a valley that I couldn't help to stare at with my jaw dropped. This was my kind of terrain.

The past week... The past month and a half of hiking in the high desert has helped me to appreciate that moment so much more. I took a ton of pictures also. 

The trail crosses paths with the _______ River. Here I relaxed and soaked my feet for a couple hours. Through that time I saw the entire group. 

The last 3 ish miles were uphill to a campsite and water source. With my new pack, I put my tent on the outside, which makes setting up camp so much easier. With my other backpack I would have to unpack a bunch of gear to get access to my tent. No more!

Ate dinner and relaxed around a campfire. Two new hikers have joined up with the group. Lefty and Natalie (Zinger). Lefty drew a sketch of a few of us (from left to right: BT, Leah and Me) around the campfire. It's really good. 

Also, whether you wanted to see it or not, here is my view from today's Nature Break. 



Day 44 - 702.2 (0.0)

Similar to yesterday. Didn't go to Grumpies because the General Store was making all you can eat pancakes (plain, blueberry or m&m) with a serving of eggs and sausage. took another shower before some weather moved in. Rested and waited anxiously for the new adventure that would start tomorrow... The Sierras. 

Day 43 - 702.2 (0.0)

A very normal zero. Went to Grumpy's for breakfast... All you can eat pancakes. Also a milkshake. 

Today was choirs day. shower, laundry and testing out my new pack were on the list of things to do. 

Knowing I was taking another Zero tomorrow really alleviated the pressure to get everything done. I had another burger for lunch. 

Relaxed for the evening on the deck of the General Store. Played a game of chess... Almost won.