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The Last Hurdle: Washington Weather
The next days are cold and sometimes rainy, and this has a compounding affect. After nearly 2500 miles, we have passed the phase where we are fit and triumphant. Now we are wearing down, like an athlete going into triple overtime after having played several games already this week. The wet and the cold stiffen the joints, which makes us slower, which keeps us exposed to the elements longer, and the cycle continues.
Sierra Dots Connected and Bound for the Border
The morning brings rain, hail and sleet, transitioning between each every few minutes. On the last plateau before the pass, there is a bulging creek to ford. We are cold and wet and looking up at the summit through the gray haze of the wintery precipitation. Our window of opportunity has passed for the time being.
SNOBO and Back in California
The overnight bus from Portland gets into Redding around 5am. I had very low expectations, so in a relative sense feel rested from my few hours of sleep. After a resupply at the 24-hour grocery store, an early morning diner breakfast and getting kicked off of a patch of grass where we were taking a nap, we get on a 10am bus to Burney. At Burney, a trail angel shuttles us to Old Station and we are back to the spot where we headed north back in June.
Southern Washington: The End of Act Two
Washington starts with some big climbs and descents, the likes of which we didn't see much of in Oregon. There is a wonderful vista near Mt Adams where we can also see Hood, St Helens and Rainier--four peaks at once.
Fighting Through the Blues
The final miles of California come at dusk on the first of July. Blowdowns abound one last time, as if California is trying to slow us down: don’t go, we’ve had so much fun, stay just a few more minutes!
The SnoBos arrive in NorCal
Dash, from somewhere around Mammoth, sends a message: "How's NorCal?" The responses from the group are varied, but all are accurate.
Glen, Pinchot and Mather Passes
On our way out at Kearsarge Pass, we saw people we knew heading back in to make the trek to Bishop Pass. This planted the seed, but by the time we got to Bishop town, we were already considering the return.
Forester Pass
After several switchbacks on terra firma, we round a corner and get our first up-close view of the ice chute. Surrounded by rocks on both sides, this frozen terrain drops hundreds of feet to the base below. Spanning across the 40 meters is a feeble boot track, which is to be our path.
Kennedy Meadows to Lone Pine
Cowboy camping on the General Store porch, I wake at 6:00 as the first footsteps start creaking the deck boards in search of coffee. We intend to leave around 7:30, but one more pancake breakfast is too tempting so it ends up being a 9am departure. Before heading out, I pick up the guitar and we serenade Sheriff (who has to remain a week to rest his knee) with "Leaving on a Jet Plane." We all hug a tearful goodbye and we are off.
Kennedy Meadows: The End of Act One
For 703 miles, the experience becomes more familiar and feels like home. There are about twenty people in my bubble, and on any given day I am hiking, camping, or towning with a few of them. In most years, this might continue ad infinitum to the opposite border. In 2023 with the chaos of the snowpack, the journeys are split at Kennedy Meadows as though a brush were dipping into our collective paint and splattering it across the canvas.