Section I is 76 miles long and runs from Tuolomne Meadows to Sonora Pass. July 5th - 8th.
Day 60, hitchhiking up to Tuolomne Meadows and 11.9 miles to camp.
We took the trolley to the edge of town and threw our thumbs out next to the RV campground hoping that vacationers would be heading home after the holiday. After an hour, Corey pulled over to pick us up in...another Prius! She was ecstatic to be giving PCT hikers a lift since her good friend hiked the trail a few years ago. She was only going to June Lake, halfway up 395, but it was still a step in the right direction. She got a selfie with us as proof to show her friend and then we put our thumbs back up on the side of the highway. About a minute later, Dave and Sharee picked us up in a Jeep and took us the rest of the way to Lee Vining. Our third and final hitch came from a former thru hiker, Shotput, who shuttled us back to Tuolomne Meadows. We got burgers from the grill and hung out with our main crew (Moose, Midge, Squirrel, Shark, and Taco) but left soon, while they seemed to be getting vortexed. We passed a myriad of day hikers checking out Lembert Dome and the Soda Springs but the crowd thinned the further into the woods we went. We stopped at the impressive Tuolomne Falls where we had a snack and I went for a swim. We hiked down to the bottom of the valley and back up to a campsite at the top but the water source was dry. We went another two miles through a skinny little meadow and found a campsite next to a small trickling waterfall.
Lembert Dome.
Tuolomne Falls.
Rainbow over us!
Leave me alone
Day 61, 18.3 miles over Benson Pass to Benson Lake.
We crushed 5.4 miles straight to Miller Lake and took our first break on the small strip of a Sandy beach. It was quite relaxing and I enjoyed my upgraded butt pad. It has six sections instead of two, so I can lay down and fit my whole back on it. From there, we dropped down into a Canyon, across the stream, and then took another quick break has we refilled water. Her Achilles was still hurting and it suddenly kicked in my mind that I had old insoles buried in my pack. So I dug them out, cut the heels off, and put them under her insoles to create a difference in the heel-toe drop. I then blasted up Benson Pass and waited for her at the top and then we hiked down the other side together. Her Achilles was hurting but the insoles seemed to be helping. At the bottom, we had a sketchy creek crossing across a big fallen tree that was high above the rocky water and then took the side trail to Benson Lake. It had a deep 40 yard beach of smooth sand and felt exactly like you were on the coast, except for the big mountains flanking you on either side. I dug my toes in the sand and went for a quick dip and then we set camp, ate read some of our book, and got some great sleep. Except for when I got up in the middle of the night for some awesome star shots!
Miller Lake.
Volunteer Peak.
Benson Lake by day.
Benson Lake by night.
Light painting the trees behind camp at Benson Lake.
Day 62, 14.1 miles over Seavey Pass to camp at Wilma Lake.
We slept in and planned to go for a morning swim but the sunshine was taking too long to spill over the mountains, so we took off. We began the ascent up Seavey Pass and Sea Lion hiked ahead of me when I stopped to switch from hiking pants to my space shorts and then even further ahead when I stopped to climb a rock wall. You can't go to Yosemite NP and NOT climb something. She waited for me at the bottom where we had a snack and I was in need of a nap after running around the beach taking astro shots for an hour last night. We agreed to meet at the creek on the other side of the next hill and I scurried over to get there first and take my nap. About half an hour later she arrived, we had lunch, and we joined by some local wildlife. I had lost track of how many deer we've seen but I'm still amazed with how unscared they are of humans. We then had to ford the stream, no downed trees or rocks to hop, and I wish I did this before my nap so I could let my feet dry out. We had one more up and down and planned to camp at Wilma Lake on the other side. This meant a tiny 14 mile day but the rest of the section was much flatter and it was quite lovely to be at camp at 5pm. We had time to swim, rinse some clothes in the lake, read, make a fire, and engineer a rainfly-only set up for the tent. They try to sell you an expensive footprint with anchor points that let you put up the rainfly first but I instead found Paracord in a hiker box and tied it up to match the tent pole anchor points.
Mariposa Lily.
Indian Paintbrush.
Day 63, 23.1 miles to camp.
The mosquitoes were out in full force so we ate brekkie in the tent before setting out. The trail followed Falls Creek up a long and gentle ascent and we hiked nine miles up to Dorothy Lake like it was nothing. The clear sky, blue water, and Forsyth Peak in the backdrop made it too irresistible to pass by. We had a long snack break and I went for a refreshing swim before we continued over the pass. At the top you could see the snow capped granite mountains to the South and brown mountains in a drier climate to the North. We hiked together down the other side when, suddenly, we hit the 999.99 mile marker! Then the 1000 mile marker soon after where we stopped for photos and to enjoy a 1000 mile celebration beer that we packed out. We continued down to Walker River where we took another quick break and planned to stop for dinner at the last stream before climbing over to Sonora Pass. I took off ahead and soon saw a deer and started to take a video when her little baby fawn came bounding down the trail. Definitely another instance where I was glad to have a zoom lens. At dinner, Blueberry and Cowgirl passed us going sobo after hitching ahead to South Lake Tahoe for the 4th. It was great catching up with some friends and we planned to have a reunion party at SLT. After supper we made the climb up long switchbacks on bare rocky mountains. It was quite windy up top but we found a nice campsite sheltered by some bushes.
Day 64, 12.9 miles to camp with a pitstop at Kennedy Meadows North.
It was a chilly morning as we packed up camp and then hiked along the ridge towards Sonora Pass. There were some snow patches and one slipped down to a switchback just ahead and I knew this may be my last chance to sled down a mountain. So I did. We continued on down to the pass and got a hitch in with a new friend from New Zealand, Tahlia, and we grabbed lunch at the grill. We picked up our food drop, repacked it, hung out for a minute, then went to hitch back up the mountain. Trail Slug gave us a lift and was a jolly old man that reminded us of Ghost, from early on. The climate again seemed to totally change as we hiked past brown crumbly peaks and there was quite an uptick in wildflowers. We planned to camp ASAP but wound up hiking over the ridge and three miles down into a ravine. However, it was worth it because we scored a campsite with a beautiful burbling waterfall and a fire pit. So we had a fire during dinner and got great sleep with the soothing sounds of running water.
Nice little campsite.