Day 65, 6.30 miles

I woke up this morning on the nice windy ridge way up high on the pass. It was colder and windier than the night before, and yet again I had slept in! I’m starting to see a pattern here! (I guess I need blistering hot weather again to motivate me to get an early start!) Just kidding, I’ll knock on wood!

The trail down to highway 108 and Sonora Pass was beautiful! The top of the ridge line and pretty much almost down to the road had a strong and cold biting wind, so I ended up putting on my rain jacket and gloves as a wind buff. Here are 5 pictures of essentially the same thing :)

It was so cool!

I had cell service for a few minutes and quickly entered a world of confusion, sadness, anger, selfishness, shame, and regret. I won’t get into such personal matters here, but let’s just say I’ve had better mornings. Rest assured, as I type this tonight I’m feeling a lot better, and I’m thankful to all parties involved for their understanding and help with the matter. You know who you are and I genuinely thank you.

Anyways, enough about me! I got down to Sonora Pass just about 10am. I was planning on meeting Ron (Retro) and Cheryl around mid afternoon, but I took rested in the shade under a tree and talked to some other hikers every once in a while. While I was there, Keglegs got dropped off from a hitch, on her way back out North on the trail! I hadn’t seen her since VVR so we caught up for about 10 mins before she headed off.

The view from Sonora Pass parking lot

Someone came up from the highway while I was in the parking lot and said “Your ride is coming Two-pack!” Music to my ears! Sure enough, a couple minutes later a huge Sprinter van rolled up and Ron and Cheryl (and Lily!) were here! I can’t even explain how great these guys are! I’m now at mile 1017; I met them at mile 42! They told me that when I got to Sonora Pass, I was welcome at their cabin and we could even go to a big grocery to resupply. When they arrived, there were two other couples that had just gotten to the parking lot too. Ron jumped into trail angel mode, and brought beer, cherries, chips and burritos for everyone! He asked if they wanted to join for the night in the cabin and resupply, and they were all down to join.

Left to right: Cheryl, Ron, and the two other couples!

We drove west for around an hour in the Sprinter, swapping stories and just being glad to not be walking in the wind. We entered a sweet small community of cabins, and soon we were home for the night!

Porch pack explosion 

We hung out there for a bit, before heading out to the grocery store about 10 minutes away for some resupply. It’s a little resort town called Twain Harte. The store was surprisingly big and had great prices! I haven’t great fresh produce at a good price in a while! I picked up a couple perfect avocados and a honey crisp apple!

Mmmmm!!! 

Love cheese! Should I?

While we were in the store picking up some items, Ron was next door picking us up some Chinese food for all of us! This guy is too good to us! We went back to the cabin and the ravenous beasts came out of all of us. The six of us ate around 10 entrees and a tom of rice. I stood as “The Finisher”, and went back for fourths after everyone was done.

Yes I had 4 plates that looked like this!

Ah, what a good night! We talked on the porch for a while, and I even got to call Claire and talk for awhile! I had some service there and she sent me some cool pictures from our visit! 

Ron and Lily!

Lily’s been posting about me! I love the hashtags..

Pics from Claire 

Well, it’s been a great day! I’m lying happily on a hide-a-bed in the living room. Tomorrow we’re going to a cafe early and then hitting the trail! I should be able to upload my blog tomorrow morning! 

Thanks for reading!!