8/11/14 Monday. Peggy Celebrates 4 months on the Trail 8/12/14 Tuesday. From Granite To Red Volcanic Rock and Kennedy Meadows Pack Station.

8/11/14.  16 miles

With the exception of 1 week rest in Medford Peggy has been walking for 4 months having begun her hike April 11th!

Neither of us wanted to get up at 5:30 this morning but we were up and on our way over the pass by 6:30am

To our right was a bowl from what we guess was an old volcano plus other cone shaped mountains nearby.  The Highland Lakes are tucked into these mountains but they are on the other side of the valley, not on the PCT.

 We didn't need water in the meadow that we passed so we hiked on to Wolf Creek where we took a break, filtered water and did some rinsing of socks in a spare plastic bag.  We've entered the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.  

This is a barbed wire fence and gate that keeps cattle from roaming where they don't belong.  There were many such gates we had to open and close in the area.  Cattle and the clang of bells around their necks became common  and not a welcome experience on this section of trail.  Cow droppings on the trail, fouling water and their hooves churning up the PCT make for unpleasant hiking. 

All of them looking at us with suspicion. 

Tall craggy mountains

and rocky crevasses where soil  gave way and washed down the mountains leaving the trail destroyed were all common sights in this section.

Approaching this pass there was a pile of bright white rock 

that contrasted with the red soil, really pretty colors.

Both of us are feeling tired, the miles are hard to crank out.  As we rested by a stream a solo woman hiker named Candice approached.  We chatted, she's just out of medical school and hiking a 300 mile section to renew herself.  She told us of another solo woman hiker a short way behind her named Critter. We'd met Critter in N California the day we got to Oregon!  Now she was hiking SOBO like we were!  We may see her tomorrow when we all should arrive at Kennedy Meadows North for a zero day.

Peggy & I decided to hike another 3.5 miles to position ourselves to get to Hwy 108 at a reasonable time tomorrow to hitch a ride.

The last miles were difficult for me, I was having trouble with energy and breath (we are at 8-9,000 ft elevation and that could be a factor).  Just making miles on the granite trail are considerably harder.

Thunder began rumbling and we were trying to get to the campsite before rain started so we were hurrying.

Rain is coming.

Finally drops started coming down as I scooted into the site Peggy had chosen, she was just starting to put up her tent when I joined her.  We got tents up and our stuff inside when Candice came by.  She decided to go 1 mile more and camp by herself.  Peggy & I got water boiling and food ready when thunder and lightening began.  Rain and hail came pouring down, thunder upon thunder rolled far away interrupted by loud claps nearby. Quite the display.  We were zipped up snug as the storm blasted overhead.

8/12/14.  11 miles

The rain got between my ground cloth and tent last night because the ground was slightly sloped, but inside I stayed pretty dry.  By 5:30 when we got up there hadn't been much rain for awhile so the tent fly wasn't too wet.  It's cold and windy this morning,  rain clouds filling the sky so we are wearing jackets and pack covers.

We continued to descend into the deep valley between two steep granite mountains.

This granite face is directly across from us this morning.  Grey in the cloudy morning light it's nevertheless awesome in it's height and make up.  Ledges dot the face, full grown trees grow on those ledges, some cracks have water cascading down them from the top peak flowing down into the E Fork of the Carson River at the bottom that we can hear but not yet see.

Near the bottom these alder trees were a nice contrast to pine and fir that we normally saw.  The trail began to climb out of the canyon.

Every little freshet was running with water from last nights' storm.

The wet rock strewn trail ascends the steep valley.

We began climbing up to the rim through granite boulders.

As we climbed up we could look back and see our progress from this morning.  We were way down in the valley just hours ago. It still looked like it could rain any minute but we were fortunate it didn't!   For all the effort it takes,  I love being up so high and seeing the views.  

Clouds were moving so fast Peggy and I stopped, sat down and watched them for some time as windows of blue sky appeared and disappeared too fast to get photos.  The wind had a voice as it blasted down from the peaks above.  I felt like a tiny creature inching my way up and out of the valley.

Slowly, steadily we made our way up granite steps laid in the mountainside, a thing of beauty that someone took great pride in laying down.

Each time I thought we'd reached the top -it was not the top. 

Out of the deep valley at last, we'd yet to get over the pass.

Wolf Creek Lake at the top. (Well, almost the top)

This was the pass we needed to get over, then we needed to work our way down the other side.

The granite was gone, replaced by red volcanic rock (like cinder).  Peggy's on the trail in the lower right corner. The wind was beginning to blow hard. 

Standing in the blasting wind I took this photo of the other side where the trail was taking us out of white granite into a new valley of bare red rock looking down onto spires hanging below us as well as towering above.  

To get out of the wind and take a break Peggy found this place and tucked in, I joined her for a snack.  We'd hiked along this mountain side once we got over the the pass but still had a few miles to go.  We kept our hoods up and jackets on as the wind ripped at us from the peaks. Working our way down the mountain by switchbacks we entered lowlands made up of greyish purple mudflows dotted with wildflowers. 

We also ran into Critter coming off the pass and reunited with her.  She remembered meeting us in N California. 

Arriving at the trailhead at Hwy 108 we walked through the parking lot to see if anyone was there who could take us 9 miles down to Kennedy Meadows.  No one was there, only empty cars.  We walked out to the Highway when we heard a car, stuck out our thumbs and the car pulled over.  We asked if she had room for Critter too and we all three got a ride.  

Erin was very interested in particular information about our hikes.  She would love to hike the PCT herself and took notes so she could research it. I'll bet one day she'll be hiking this trail! 

Thanks for the ride to Kennedy Meadows North, Erin!

We got rooms above  the store in their hiker hostel, took showers, did laundry and ate lunch.  A zero day was planned for tomorrow. There was no cell service here so no phone calls home or updates on the blog were possible.