Encounters - Wednesday, June 4

It's the events that unexpectedly  happen during a day that help to define it. We all lay plans for the day; things we hope to accomplish, get togethers we would like to happen, jobs that must be done. But, it is the unexpected, the unforeseen and unplanned events that turn the day delightful or dreadful. 

We were on the trail by 6:45 this morning, climbing the ridge we had started the night before. The trail delightfully wound it's way up the crest of the ridge between granitic outcrops towering 30 to 50 feet above us, like walking the streets of a downtown district with the buildings blocking the sun. At times the trail climbed steeply to squeeze between two rock outcrops, then it might drop on the other side to skirt below and around some trail resistant solid bedrock.

To our surprise, on one such descent we encountered an open view to the east, 6000 feet down into the Owens Valley. Always looking for cell signal, I pulled my phone off airplane mode (which it stays on all day to conserve battery life unless I am using the GPS to pinpoint our location) and saw four lovely bars and a 4G signal come barreling in. I had written and sent to email blogs for the previous three days, so they immediately and automatically transmitted out. We had not talked to Andy and Jeff for weeks, so we called both. We caught Andy on his bus ride to work but missed Jeff. We texted friends, and asked our trail angel Wendy, Sally's sister, to add another set of Aqua Mira, our water purifier, to the next resupply coming at Independence.

After our half hour delay to communicate with the outside world we continued up the trail as it stayed on the ridge and allowed us changing views down into Owens Valley from our perch at 10,400'. Eventually, we reached the top of our climb and began the descent to our next water source, Diaz Creek, a small creek  200 yards off the trail to the east. We delayed lunch until we reached the turnoff to the creek 6 miles off and 800' down. We had enough water for the distance, but knew we would enjoy lunch more with a plentiful water resupply point.

Since leaving Kennedy Meadows four days ago we have been in the trees. Large, wonderful stands of Bristlecone and Piñon pines at the higher elevations and Lodgepole Pines lower down. There is no undergrowth between these monarchs as water is too scarce to allow its growth, so between the massive trunks we can see for hundreds of yards in all directions.

Diaz Creek was about two feet wide and three inches deep, a major water source by our standards. When I dipped my bowl in it to scoop water to pour into the water bottles I was shocked at how warm the water was. It was as warm as a hot bath. It is not fed by a hot spring, so all the heat was generated by the sun. Hikers that filled up later in the evening reported it not to be unusually warm, meaning the midday sun was doing the heating.

We cooked scrambled eggs for lunch and had egg burritos. Filling and delicious. After eating we laid on the forest duff and rested, observing three groups of twenty something's in nearby patches of shade created by the stands of pines. We could hear the telltale coughing and hacking and smell the burning pot as they employed their pipes and bongs to add desert to their lunch. Doesn't anybody just enjoy the wilderness without getting stoned?  Appears not.

Once again with packs loaded down with water we started up the hill, hoping to make 4 miles to Trail Pass before camping for the evening.  We got to Murkley Pass at 3.2 miles before we cried uncle  and dropped our packs for the night. The passes in the Sierra are generally broad and afford nice flat ground for camping, so we moved off the trail and set up our tent.

We had the opportunity again today to meet many new people as they passed us, some very friendly, like Pan, who were animated and wanted to talk and others with a mission to cover miles who would give a curt "hi" and be on their way.

Waterfall and Backup are now a day ahead, hoping to get to the base of Mt. Whitney so they can climb it Friday. With any luck, we might meet them on the trail again as the time taken to climb will allow us to catch up.

Crotalus, Far Out and and Coyote are four or five days behind. We suspect they will catch up to us in the next week or so.

All surprise events today were on the delightful side of the ledger. Taken together, it was another wonderful day in the Sierra.