Miles hiked: 19
Pretty mellow day, topography-wise, particularly compared to the last few days. Got hiking by 6:15 and promptly had to wade a shallow stream then decided to stop and wring m socks out before continuing. Saw a Common Merganser and a half dozen chicks on this creek.
Then for the next 8 or 10 miles the trail just sort of barely climbed up Jack Main Canyon, following Falls Creek upstream. We were in and out of Lodgepole forest and a long open meadow along the stream bank, and the walking was exceedingly pleasant. It was sunny but not too warm, and the miles drifted by. The two main things of note were that there were a bunch of Chipping Sparrows, and I had to unpack my pack a bit to show a ranger my permit and bear can, just about 2 miles short of where bear cans are no longer required. I took a break for brunch just after that, and when I finally caught up with the 2 other hikers who'd passed while I was rummaging for my permit, they thought I'd been being "hassled" by the ranger that whole time.
I caught up with them (Gravy, who's full trail name turns out to be Gravy Crockett, and Meadow Mouse) along with Scorpia, Rainbow, and Love It Or Leave It at Dorothy Lake, a beautiful big blue oval set below some high jagged peaks just before the Yosemite boundary. It sort of seemed like this was the last of the high Sierra-type terrain for a while, and a fitting farewell to Yosemite.
After crossing the park line, the trail descended down past a few more lakes and along a tumbling stream. I took a long siesta where the trail crossed a narrow log over the stream, at about mile 999, finishing my book and munching trail mix then getting a bit of sleep before the sun found me and threatened to burn he bottoms of my feet.
I woke and packed quickly, for some reason feeling a bit lonely and like I was being left behind. I hurried along, checking and rechecking the map to make sure I didn't miss the 1000 mile point. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of my emotions when I got there, wasn't sure if I would feel a sense of accomplishment or just be happy or think about the 16-hundred-odd I still have to go. When I fit saw the little arrangement of rocks I felt silly for thinking I might miss it, it was right in the middle of the trail (though a section hiker just in front of me saw it but somehow didn't realize what it was). And it was a bit anticlimactic getting there; for some reason it didn't feel much different than the mile before or the mile after. Just one more on this long walk, it just happens to be a nice round number. I have been reflecting some the last few days on the passage of distance and time. It seems like days and miles are passing so quickly. I living the Theory of Relativity; I'm traveling so slowly, but time seems to be passing to quickly. It seems so recent that I was sitting on that grungy couch at Hiker Town; or running short of water the day before Walker Pass; or sitting in the shade for 6 or 7 hours at Tylerhorse Canyon after beating the heat across the floor of the Mojave. The day's tend to blend together somewhat, but some of these memories remain so vivid.
After 1000 the trail continued on down toward some place called Walken Meadow, which seemed like any other meadow we've passed but for some reason got its own waypoint on the Halfmile map; I wonder what the story is there.
As the trail dropped further into this little canyon, the geology changed dramatically from slabby granite to what I think is the cores of old volcanoes sticking up through shales and conglomerates and all of it crumbling together into what seems to me a confusing mess. But it's so beautiful; big long dirty-red ridges, apparently too-well drained or with poor soil because they're mostly bare of vegetation, except in places where sage grows in pale green swaths. Improbable looking towers and pinnacles march along ridge lines. Down in the canyons the lupine and columbine and paintbrush and many others I don't know grow thick along little streams.
I got to the last water for another 10 miles at about mile 1006 by 5:30, and sat by the creek with Scorpia, Rainbow, and Love It ..., having a fun time just enjoying the sun and sound is the water and the great feeling at the end of this pretty easy day. Shenanigans and AZ caught up in time for dinner, and now we have a pretty good crew camped out in this little grove of Lodgepoles at the foot of a climb up on to what is supposed to be an "epic" ridge walk to Sonora Pass. In the stead of big peaks, tonight a huge bulbous thunderhead showed the alpenglow as the sun dipped west over the horizon.
Birds:
Mountain Chickadee
Olive-sided Flycatcher
American Robin
Western Wood-pewee
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Cassin's Finch
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Common Merganser
Pine Siskin
Stellar's Jay
Hermit Thrush
Hairy Woodpecker
Western Tanager
White-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Wilson's Warbler
Rock Wren
White-breasted Nuthatch
Townsend's Solitaire
Black-backed Woodpecker
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