June 30. Day 60.

Mile 912 to 931.7.

Miles hiked: 19.7.

Slept in to the luxurious hour of about 6:30, but then a buzzing mosquito got me up and moving pretty quickly. It was just a few more miles to Agnew Meadow, where a few day hikers were headed out for adventure and the damp green meadow nearly glowed in the early light. The trail then began to climb up the eastern slope of the canyon, with the din of he San Joaquin growing fainter and fainter below. On up through scattered Lodgepoles then out into open sage with little streams running down the hill all thickety with willow and paintbrush and some scattered Monkshood and seemingly endless Lupine. Green-tailed Towhees and Brewer's Sparrows sang from the sage, and near one of the creeks I flushed a Sooty Grouse and at least 3 half sized fledglings. 

Looking south toward Devils Postpile and the Silver Divide on the horizon.

Up near the head of the canyon I took a break on a granite slab in the sun by a shallow pond to have brunch and lay out my stuff to dry. My sleeping bag was mostly dry, but my jackets, tarp, backpack and pack cover were all a bit damp since I'd camped down in the humid bottom of the canyon not far from the river. That done I continued on, past 1000 Island Lake with its 75-odd islands and Banner Peak looming huge above it, then on over the inconspicuous Island Pass and down into a broad basin with the headwaters of Rush Creek, which is one of the creeks flowing in to Mono Lake. Somewhere along here some hikers going he other way asked me how far it was to the lake. I figured they meant 1000 Island Lake, but couldn't help myself and said, "There's lakes all over the place, depends which one you're after." They ended up being nice and were curious and excited about the PCT, so I felt a little bad for being a smart ass, but at the same time, knowing where you are and how far it is to your destination is the sort of thing people out here should be able to figure out fairly well on their own.

Banner and 1,000 Island Lake.

All the while I was watching the sky. Big cumulus clouds had begun peaking over the tops of Mts. Ritter, Banner, and Lyell as early as 11 this morning, and I was concerned that my timing was going to be just right to hit Donahue Pass just in time for the lightning and rain. It was dark and ominous to the south and north, but right over Donahue the clouds were dispersing for some unknown atmospheric reason, and there was a nice gap of blue sky. About a mile and a half before the pass I left the last trees and the go/no go point. The closest cloud over the pass was in a period of shrinkage, so I decided to go for it. 

Columbine.

The climb was gradual and easy and I was to the pass within 40 minutes. No lightning yet. I hung out there for a couple minutes, enjoying he view and taking a group photo for some other people, then headed down he other side looking down toward the classic mountain scene of the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River lazily winding its way along the floor of Lyell Canyon. Looking back over my shoulder a half mile down, I could see the gap in the clouds over the pass had closed, and a short while later drops were falling. Si fe there was no big rush to get down to Tuolumne Meadows, I was planning to wait out the afternoon rain under some trees today, rather than walk through it and get good and wet like I did yesterday (don't want too much Washington practice). But I was still above what I'll call the functional tree line, and none of the scraggly single Lodgepoles nearby offered much shelter. So I quickly put my pack cover on (righter this time) and headed downhill as quickly as my knees would allow. For a time the rain backed off and I thought I'd go ahead and get down to the floor of Lyell Canyon, but then it started up again with renewed intention and I pitched my tarp in the first spot I found and dove in. 

Dark weather looking southeast from Donahue.

I had made it to within about 10 miles of Tuolumne, which sounded like a good amount of hiking for tomorrow, so just decided to stay here even after the rain quit. I finished my day's ration of snacks and Animal Farm, then crawled out to have dinner and watch the subtle sunset among the clearing clouds.

Don't know what this is; it's a dominant ground cover in the alpine areas.

I made a few changes to my gear and clothing in Mammoth, and so far have been happy with them: I switched to the regular size Sawyer filter (thanks Libby for bringing me this!), which is much faster than the mini; I sent my long sleeve wool sleeping shirt home with Libby and replaced it with a short sleeve and light hooded long sleeve wool tops- so far I'm really liking the added versatility of this combo, and not really noticing the extra 7-8 ounces; finally I've added some Injinji toe socks and a pair of Ice Breaker "all sport" socks to replace the thin pair of Darn Tough socks I've put holes in (Pretty Darn Tough??)-time will tell on how long these socks last, but so far they're comfortable enough.

Birds:

Brown Creeper 

Western Wood-pewee 

American Robin 

Oregon Junco 

Fox Sparrow 

Green-tailed Towhee 

Olive-sided Flycatcher 

Song Sparrow 

White-crowned Sparrow 

Wilson's Warbler 

Warbling Vireo 

Hairy Woodpecker 

Stellar's Jay 

Golden-crowned Kinglet 

Mountain Chickadee 

Clark's Nutcracker 

Sooty Grouse 

Pine Siskin

Cassin's Finch 

Yellow-rumped Warbler 

Brewer's Sparrow 

Rock Wren 

Red-breasted Nuthatch 

Gray-crowned Rosy-finch 

Hermit Thrush