Day 62, Mile 1010. South of Sonora Pass at 11,000 feet.
This past week and a half was spent in the interior of the magnificent Sierra Nevada. We have climbed no less than six 11,000′ passes on consecutive days. The passes are often followed by snowy basins with innumerable streams to manage. Almost always wet shoes and pants for part of the day.
The amount of bare rock soaring into the skies around us was utterly breathtaking.
The trail took us up, down, and around the terrain surrounded by beautiful waterfalls and green forests.
Sometimes the path came to the side of a stream with no stepping stones, bridges, or logs spanning the streams. In this case , we must “ford” the stream. Now we’ve done this a good two dozen times. It may be walking a across from an ankle-deep crossing to deeper, wider streams requiring facing into the current and side-stepping slowly, feeling for the best place for the feet. We always search up and down for the best, and safest place to cross. We have many more to go meaning many more wet shoes, socks and pants. We always leave our shoes on to cross for better footing.
We are finally out of the very rugged mountains and should be able to stay in touch a bit better.
Dogleggers on the Trail 