Miles hiked: 22.
Bumped up he mileage a bit today to get back around my 20 mpd average goal for this leg up to Echo Lake. I'm meeting my parents there sometime the first half of the 10th, and 20's will get me within just a couple hours by the evening of he 9th. Despite having a fairly modest mileage goal for today, I still got up a bit after 5 and was hiking by 6:15. I wanted to get at least part way up on the ridge walk early enough for the nice sunrise light.
The trail wound up through forest for a mile or so then broke out into open country at around 9,500 feet, at what I guess must be a soul-moisture-related tree line. I came to the Emigrant Pass trail junction shortly after, and even though I wanted to keep climbing in the good light, the view here stopped me in my tracks. I was I be edge of a big broad saddle, with sparse wind-sculpted pines and short lupine and paintbrush and a few others growing in the scree. To both sides of the saddle rose peaks with crumbly cliff bands along their flanks. The light ended up being nothing too spectacular, but nonetheless cast a beautiful warm glow over everything. Some deer grazed a few hundred yards away. I could have dropped my pack and set up camp again right there.
But I kept climbing. The trail now followed an old road bed up some broad switchbacks climbing a bare hillside. I don't know the exact history here, but given the name of the trail junction I have a feeling this might be an old wagon road. Something to investigate. After a half hour climbing I reached the ridge line and from there thugs just got better. The ridge is I guess some sort of old volcanic core, and it runs north-south for about 8 miles to form what is the highest spine of the mountain range. The slope fell off relatively gently to the west, dipping down to the smoggy Central Valley. To the east was a steep drop down into a valley a mile or 2 wide with meadows and rivers and lakes, then more rows of lower mountains and hills. Several miles off I could just make out semi trucks easing up and down Hwy 395. The trail followed this ridge all the way to Sonora Pass, about 10 trail miles, dodging east or west of the highest most jagged peaks based on which side had the fewest cliffs to negotiate. The grand finale was a quarter-mile traverse right below a saw tooth section of ridge, which terminated in a quick crossing to the other side through a narrow notch.
Descending down to Sonora Pass, I arrived just in time for "Sonora Pass Resupply" to open for the day. This is a new business this year, consisting of one guy and a delivery truck converted into a little rolling store with just enough food and other minor supplies for hikers to resupply with. The loading ramp was pulled out half way so it would stay horizontal, and held a camp stove with a pot of hot coffee; "don't mind if I do." Inside were hooks and shelves holding freeze dried backpacker meals and a wide assortment of junk food favorites. Hikers can also send their bear cans (no longer required) away to be shipped home. All prices are comparable or better than other trail towns; I guess there's pretty low overhead. To top it off there was a super friendly dog named Happy to pet and scratch. I stayed there 2.5 hours, eating and getting a bit more food and repacking my pack without the bear can, then went bounding and skipping (well, not quite, but nearly; I'd had 2 more cups of coffee) on up the trail, climbing a hillside full of wildflowers.
The hillside was up another volcanic core, with curious spires and towers and little rivulets tumbling down over coarse dirt and rocks. After switchbacking an hour the trail topped out and circled around the east side of the peak, which I guess is Sonora Peak. Thunder clouds had built up by now and a few drops or rain spattered down. Off in the distance isolated squalls dragged their rain showers over the mountains like jellyfish ghosts drifting through the sky.
The trail rounded to the north side of the peak and all of a sudden was back in to big blocky white granite with big steps. I crossed a saddle and stepped over a small trickle of water, which is the first little flow of the East Fork of the Carson River, which I had a great rafting trip on with some friends a few years ago. The trail from plowed he growing River down stream for a few miles, the sky growing dark and rumbly, with a few licks of lightning along nearby ridges. I took shelter from one little rain shower under a dense collection of short aspens, all probably clones of the single tall tree in the middle.
The trail climbed steeply a mile up on to a bit of a forested plateau, and during the climb I saw the first Pine Grosbeaks of the trip. Reaching the top of the climb, I dipped a couple liters of water from a little stream then walked another minute to set up camp on a little flat spot next to a pile of boulders overlooking the E Fork Carson canyon. Just as I got my tarp set up, some strange hail-slush stuff started pelting down, and I dove for cover and pulled my stuff inside and munched my new snacks while the commotion settled down. Afterward I made my first Mountain House meal of the trip (just fine) and watched the heavier dusting of slush that fell on the opposite side of he canyon melt as the sun peaked under the clouds just before setting. Hermit Thrushes and Cassin's Finches sing and the steep granite across the way turns soft pink then go cold gray then the billowy clouds above do the same. I have a pretty comical time throwing the rope for what turns out to be a grade-A bear hang, complete with tangles in the rope and a 4-foot branch nearly falling on me. I get cold sitting out watching the colors and make a warm cup of water to have in bed. This is so great!
Birds:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Hairy Woodpecker
Oregon Junco
Mountain Chickadee
Clark's Nutcracker
Cassin's Finch
Mountain Bluebird
Rock Wren
Chipping Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Green-tailed Towhee- food carry
American Dipper
Western Wood-pewee
Hermit Thrush
Wilson's Warbler
American Robin- fledglings
Pine Grosbeak
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Great job on the Pine Grosbeak! That Carson trip was epic.
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