Blow Down

It was a fretful night. My feet never did get warm and my quilt felt clammy all night. I kept my wet clothes in the corner of the tent. There would be no chance to dry that stuff out until we reach Kennedy Meadows Resort. To get there we will need to climb up to the ridge above Sonora Pass and then descend three miles down to the road where we can hitch a ride 8 miles to the resort.

Getting started is the hardest part. Putting on wet clothes in 40-degree weather is one of my least favorite things to do. But once you start, you move with a real sense of purpose, because there is only one way to get warm: hike.

Today I begin my fourth week of hiking.

A Beautiful Morning

I am in a good mood because we are finally getting out of the rain. I am also looking forward to the climb out of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness and over the ridge to Sonora Pass. It was pretty impressive when I went over in 2022.

The morning skies are promising.

The two dominant peaks today are Stanislaus Peak (11,233 ft) and Sonora Peak (11,459 ft). In the photo Stanislaus is the rounded one on the right and Sonora is the pointy one to the left.

Here’s another shot from a different place.

While I am busy snapping photos, Bob passes me on the trail. He is moving well today.

Here is what it looks like behind us.

And from farther up.

We are aiming for Carson creek where we can eat lunch before the 2400-ft climb to the ridge. It’s six miles up, so we will have some work to do.

Up We Go

It’s hard work so I stay focused on hiking. There are some distractions.

It looks like we are almost there. You can see the trees on top of the ridge. Not so. It’s a false summit. I know this so I am not crestfallen as I was in 2022.

Looking east you can see thunderstorms. Stay over there until we get down, please.

Houston, We Have A Problem

I look back to see where Bob is. There is a monster on his behind. If you look closely you can see Bob in the middle of the photo. That big cloud behind him did not exist 10 minutes ago. It’s a thunderstorm blowing up the canyon towards us. We have to reach the ridgetop soon and perhaps the storm will blow by.

We reach the top, but the storm boils over the ridge and we put on our rain jackets and rev the engines. Time to descend like there’s no tomorrow.

The temp drops into the 30’s, the wind picks up and the rain turns to hail. It’s three miles down to the highway.

After 10 minutes I am completely soaked. My stupid rain jacket hasn’t worked all hike. I hate it, but it’s a layer, so it’s better than nothing. In 30 minutes my hands are numb. We have to watch our step because the trail is starting to wash out.

My extremities are cold, but my core is still warm as long as I keep moving. I experience anxiety, anger, resignation and, oddly, peace. It’s going to be OK. Hard but OK. Bob is slowing down. He is exhausted. My phone doesn’t work in the rain, and I have no way to dry the screen. I hold it close to my face and breath on it hard. It clears enough for me to get my map open. Still 0.7 miles to the road! How can this be? At least I know where we are.

When we make it to the road I put my thumb out. The car drives by. We need to get dry and warm soon. Temps have risen to 43, but we are still soaked. The next car comes by and I step out in front of it waving my arms. He pulls over. His car is full of stuff but he agrees to give us a ride. Hallelujah!

His name is Kyle. He lives in Idaho and is taking this car to his friend in Monterey. It’s his friends car. We saturate his friend’s cars seats. Sorry. Kyle turns the heater on full blast. It helps.

Kennedy Meadows

I am shaking pretty bad as I check in at the front desk. Someone puts a blanket over me. They give me some tokens for a warm shower. The receptionist makes us cups of hot chocolate.

They find a place for us to stay. We do laundry and have dinner. The ranch is at 6500 feet and the temps are in the 50s. I give Patti a quick call and everything feels much better.

I don’t know how long we will stay here. One day maybe two. We do not want to go back out in this freezing rain. The forecast says it should be over tomorrow.

August 26, 2025

Miles hiked in peace: 11

Miles hiked in distress: 3