Day 66, 21.23 miles!!

Today was so great! I woke up super early on the hide a bed in the living room of Ron and Cheryl’s cabin. I went to shower before anyone else was awake so no one would have to wait for me. A shower was nice! Soon after I came out people were waking up and coming downstairs. I went upstairs and kinda got a shot of the cabin interior. It was so cool in there! 

I’m re-using this photo from yesterday since I can actually name everyone now! Left to right: Cheryl, Ron, Jacobi, Turtle, Rose, and Tips! Jacobi and Rose live in Connecticut and Turtle and Tips live in Revelstoke, BC!

The whole crew, (sans Cheryl and Lily), piled into the van and we went down into a small town to eat breakfast at a delicious cafe! The food was so good!! Ron insisted on treating again! How amazing are these hosts?!? I didn’t take a picture at the cafe since I was busy uploading blogs and then stuffing my face with a huge roll AND a breakfast burrito :) 

We then headed back to the cabin to grab our packs and the ladies. Lily is so freaking cute and such a small little pup (but really she’s 12!!) I wanted to steal her but that would’ve been rude. (And really added to my baseweight...) On the way back we stopped at Kennedy Meadows North and picked up 3 hitching-trash to take back to the trail! It was a couple named Aaron and Cheetah, and a solo hiker named Panda.

We got out back up at Sonora Pass, and everyone said their goodbyes and headed off. I had to get one more picture with my favorite trail angels + Lily! 

Well, it was time to get moving again! It was right at 10:00am still, and I felt 100% ready to crush some miles! I flew up the first big climb and caught up with Panda on top of the hill. We talked for a while and I got the sense that we hiked at around the same speed, so we decided to hike together for awhile. Even though we started at 10am, he was still planning to do a 20+ mile day, and I said I was in!! Warning, lots of incoming photos!

Looking back towards Sonora Pass and the last of the high Sierra...

Cool rock formations all around!

So green!

Excuse the trekking pole photo bomb

The trail was so beautiful today and changed so much in one day!! For one, there were recurring beautiful wildflowers ALL DAY! Pretty colors left and right, yellows, purples, blues, oranges, reds, you name it! So great! There was also a lot of green today and small streams and water loving plants, but no water loving mosquitos!! I haven’t seen a single mosquito for over 24 hours and it feels so nice!!

Panda at a trail-side waterfall

So pretty!

Flowers!

Great paintbrush! 

Perfect weather and a perfect trail grade! The trail WAS going up and down a lot today, but the composition of the trail was very favorable! Not very much loose rubble and a lot of nice hard packed dirt and soft dust! We were flying down the trail, and after a nice long lunch break, we soon passed two familiar hikers.

Caveman and Hotlips

I met these two two days ago, while hanging out at that first mosquito free river with the other hikers. We talked a lot about caves and Hawaii and about the upcoming stretches of trail. They are very cool and are crushing it out here! I told Hotlips that when they get to Portland she needs to go get Hotlips Pizza and see if they have a cool shirt or something!

Cool huge mountain of rocks

Did I mention the wildflowers today?

Nice green shrubbery all around, but no bamboo for Panda...

There was a big granite slab sitting right next to a huge snow patch, it was really cool!

I ran up a large snow patch on a hill and slid down on my butt, performing one more glissade in honor of the High Sierra. We have one more pass to do, Donner Pass, but I doubt there’ll be much snow on it, so I figured I may as well get one last glissade in!

Hiking and talking with Panda was really cool today! He is 38 years old and has been a wilderness survival instructor and guide for the last 14 years! He knows A LOT about the outdoors, and I’ve already learned a few camping hacks from him, like finding a large round rock and a long flat rock to make a sweet, comfy, leaning chair out of! 

A good sir with his nature-recliner and gentleman’s pipe! 

While hiking and while at camp, we talked a lot about a lot of different things. He is a creative for sure, and we talked about what we want to do for the rest of our lives work-wise, shared ideas and even inventions, and got deep into some life lessons and different perspectives. 

I like talking to people who are older and have been through a lot of different things that I have, but still have similar goals and wants out of life. When I talk to people like this who are like-minded, it reassures me that chasing the simple, honest, and pure life is really the way to go, at least for me. It also makes me realize how great it is that I’ve already discovered my life-partner, and that 28 is sill VERY young! I have time to make my dreams come true. Life is good; as good as your attitude about it is. I am very fortunate and blessed to live in this beautiful place, to have spiritual and physical freedom, to have a loving and supportive family and a future in-law, supporting whatever me and my partner plan to do in life, and to have good health so that I can experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. You get the picture, it was a good talk!!

Belly full from lasagna and Oreos, me and my new hiking partner (at least until Tahoe) are planning to hike big days for the next 52 miles. We started at noon today, still did 21+ miles, and got to camp by 6pm! That’s over 2.65 mph over 8 hours including breaks!! I’m feeling great, I love the new scenery, love the new company, and I’m just all around stoked!

Thanks for reading!!