Fri. Sept. 2      Miles today: 23.2      Total so far: 1,947.4            Sierras Sections I & J     Sonora Pass

The wind blew hard all night, but that was good, for two reasons: 1) No mosquitoes!   2) Bill made a discovery.  He was so worried about his little foam sleeping pads blowing away in the night that instead of putting them UNDER the sleeping bag, he put them INTO the sleeping bag with him, and voila!  They actually work BETTER that way!

From where we were camped, we looked back toward the Yosemite High Sierras–dramatic and beautiful and rugged-looking in the early morning light.  I felt awed and amazed that we’d actually been able to walk through them, and my hat is off to the PCT thruhikers who made it through in June and July!  Then we turned and started to walk toward Sonora Pass, through a dull-colored, barren landscape, occasionally livened up by brilliant splashes of bright yellow and orage lichen on some of the rocks.  But mostly it was a drab gray-brown, cindery, clinkery mountainside, with patches of snow.   The wind was very cold, and blowing hard enough to push us around.  I wore my woolies PLUS raingear to stay warm.  We kept hiking and waiting for the sun to come up enough that we could stop and eat, telling our growling stomachs to “Hush up!”  But watching the sunlight slowly come to the peaks ahead of us was just beautiful.  After finally finding a sheltered place in the sun and out of the wind, we devoured our granola and mochas and marched on.  Up and over another crest, we found a still-gray world on the othr side.  Bill commented that it was a real “moonscape.”  We had to walk across several patches of snow, but finally came to one that was wide, steep, and icy.  We tried to walk on it, and realized, “This is too dangerous!  No way can we get across this!”  So it was rock scrambling time, as we clambered BELOW the snow field, and finally back to the PCT on the other side. 

Around the next corner of the trail, we found ourselves in a landscape that looked like a volcanic “layer cake”. The PCT travels along the base of the “cake”, then whisks through a gap.  There were still plenty of snowfields on the other side, but they were crossable, and we began to get views down into green, “laked” and forested Sonora Pass.  The PCT down to the Pass wound round and round; it did finally cross a creek, where we loaded up on water.  I had a hard time with the trail down–lots of little rolly rocks on a hard surface; it was like trying to walk on ball bearings.  I slipped and almost fell several times as a result, and was forced to walk more slowly, which made me feel very frustrated, since I was eager to reach the pass.  Boy did I cheer when we finally made it!

Well, all the SOBO’s who blithely assured us that once we were past Sonora Pass, “the trail will be easy” were sorta forgetful!  Right off the bat is a 1,000 foot climb back up to 10,500 feet on a trail that is often very steep and/or just a scratch across a slippery, steep hillside!  We stopped for lunch at a dramatic volcanic outcrop and enjoyed the rugged view.  It didn’t take too long after that to reach the top, which was the last time we’ll be at 10,000 feet elevation!  Another milestone, done and crossed!  From there came a 2,400 foot descent, on frequently steep and rocky trail, down to the East Fork Carson River Canyon.  It was very pretty, especially the trees, but discouraging  when my EXPECTATIONS had been set up for “nice easy trail after Sonora Pass.  Oh well, it’s another example of “Expectations are as bad as temptations.”  But near the bottom of the descent, when I was feeling frustrated by having to go slowly on the rough trail, a very large, double-rotored helicopter flew slowly overhead–great fun to watch!  We figured it was US Marines from their Mountain Warfare Training Center east of the pass.  Go, Marines!  Semper Fi!  We are free to hike this trail because you guys are willing to lay down your lives for us!  Thankyou!

Then we faced another steep 1,000 foot climb to the top edge of the canyon.  At one point the trail became so steep and rough and overgrown with bushes, etc.  that we began to be a bit worried.  “Is this the PCT, or did we somehow lose it?” we asked each other.  Ah, not to worry!  Shortly after, we saw “PCT” carved on the trunk of a quaking aspen tree.  Whew!  Eventually we did come to a MARKED/SIGNED trail junction, which is always a great sight when you’ve gone many miles and are concerned about “Where am I?  Am I still on the PCT?” 

We finished off the day by going around the cinder cone named “Peak 9500” and camped just below it.  The wind was blowing hard again up in the treetops, it was very cold, and we were extremely tired, but again very grateful to God that though our feet hurt from all the rocks and rough trail, we’re in good health! Before I go to sleep each night on the trail, I pray for our family, and tonight I also prayed for the Marines learning mountain warfare.