Well, I guess you could say today was “snow day”! We went up and over Donohue Pass, our last big pass. To pack up this morning, though, we had to wear full raingear plus headnets as the mosquitoes swarmed us. What a relief to be up on the pass, and leave them behind! It took a bit of hunting for trail in the snow going up, but wow, the views from the top were stupendous! Sierra peaks, all snowy, dominated the horizon to the south, and the dramatic volcanics of the Sonora Pass area were everywhere else.

But large snowfields were everywhere, and the PCT is routed (of course) to go on the shadiest, snowiest slopes. So much of today was snow traversing on (thank God!) nice snow, perfect for walking. By 3:15pm, we reached the road at Sonora Pass, and there was Thomas, a trail angel with carrots, water, snacks, offer of a ride to town, AND a big black plastic garbage bag. “Give me your garbage!” he said, and we were very glad to hand it over!

A little while later and we were at the top, cheering because it was our last time at 10,000 feet! Then came a long time of hunting for trail in the snow, until we finally stopped at about 7:30. It was very cold, so we set up the tarp and enjoyed a beautiful alpenglow sunset view after we were snuggled into our sleeping bags.

Walk to Rauros:  North of the Field of Celebrant in the Brown Lands

The 20+ miles we did today were tough miles, but we managed to land up in the end at Tuolumne Meadows! We were up ‘n at em at 5:00am, knowing we had 2 snowy passes to cross. First was Island Pass, with its gorgeous views of Banner Peak and Thousand Island Lake. The snow was definitely a factor, but not too bad compared to what we have been through. On the way up to Donohue Pass, though, there is a section with lots of creeks. Bill missed a turn of the PCT, and we ended up “lost” for about 40 minutes before Bill said, “forget finding the trail— we go straight up.”

Fortunately, we did find the trail again, eventually. There was quite a bit of snow on the Pass, but we made the top and down to the Tuolumne River on the other side. But we were worried about the Post Office closing before we could get there, so after the last “big ford” of the Tuolumne, Bill took off. I followed as fast as I could, but didn’t reach the PO/store until 6:15pm, totally wasted. Once I recovered a bit, I sorted all the food and now we are cowboy camped in the backpacker campground with the JMT people and the mosquitoes.

Walk to Rauros: Leave the border of Lothlórien and are given gifts from Galadriel