June 16, 2016

The rain overnight had left behind a chilly morning and we were again slow to get going. We passed the same tent we had seen the previous day set up at the next stream crossing but still no clue as to its inhabitant(s).

We continued the climb we had begun the afternoon before. As we got higher we began to see snow. At first this was a funny novelty. Then the temperature dropped and it began to snow on us. Before long we were pushing our way through bushes heavy with wet snow while sleet and snow alternated coming down on us. We had not planned for this.

At just after 9:00am we crossed a dirt road. I couldn't feel my feet and my legs were freezing even hiking at a brisk 4 mph. I waited for the other two to arrive and pitched the idea of setting up camp until the weather blew over or burned off because I didn't feel good about continuing in the conditions. A short ways down the road was a spot large enough for us to set up in and as began the task it began snowing harder.

We all made it into dry clothing and dry sleeping bags and settled in to wait it out. Concerns of having enough food to make it to town with the two shorter days were on each of our minds but it was better to bail early than to risk hypothermia.

Around 11:30am the sun began leaking through in short bursts but it was still cold and very wet. At 12:30pm it seemed warm enough to start packing. The clouds rolled up and over the ridge we were on so we went from sunshine to being enclosed in mist every few minutes.

Once the clouds had cleared the views were beautiful. The trail itself was slushy and snow covered with sections of incredibly dense overgrowth just as wet as it had been earlier, but at least the sun was out.

We walked along a ridge line with views out to either side before dipping back down to walk along its side. We met our first nobo hiker, Dirt Monger, who had gone all the way through the Sierras as well as two other sobo section hikers.

The water sources before our first potential campsite were both dry so we went another 3 miles to the next one. There we met Brent, a nobo section hiker who was sporting almost all homemade gear. The spring there was flowing well so we made camp and hung out with Brent. We had hiked quite a bit later than usual to make up for the morning hypothermia insurance nap and were in bed pretty quickly.