Friday July 17 – Hiking Day 14.
Sonora Pass/Hwy 108 to Kennedy Canyon Creek. Today’s miles – 11.0. Total trip miles – 131.3.
After 2.5 days of inactivity, it was time for activity. The 9am shuttle from Kennedy Meadows brought about a dozen of us 10 miles east and 2000′ up (by road!) to Sonora Pass. It was up to our legs to carry us up another 1300′ through the Emigrant Wilderness to nearly 11,000′. But the panoramic views made it worth it. And by us, I just mean myself and another hiker named Glam. And she was off, and not to be seen again after lunchtime. All the other hikers we were dropped off with were headed north.
Most of the next 4-5 hours were through a a stark and rocky (but differently beautiful) landscape. It appears the snow is hanging around longer this year than most. For the first time though, it was covering the trail, and we had to detour and navigate on a slanting uphill through about 100 yards of snow before rejoining the trail. The we in this case was a guy who didn’t give me his name, but did say he was from the Bay Area. So he will be known as Bay Area Guy.
And that is it for “we”. There were no other hikers heading in my direction for the next 5 days (foreshadowing !! ). Fortunately, having hiked this stretch before, I was better prepared for the loneliness. But on the bright side, I was ready to appreciate the solitude.
The highlight of the rest of the day was a loonngg zigzag trail (pictured), which fortunately for me was a several mile downhill.
A quiet night was spent camping at Kennedy Canyon Creek.
Opositivehikes.com
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Jerry does a lot of things.
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