Miles traveled: 23.1
Mile marker: 860
The day begins with a starry night sky (I couldn’t sleep) with a shooting star and a cold that bites my fingers.
Rafiki, Luxy and I hurried to get ready with frozen hands. We will meet the others up the hill, which is only half a mile and 300 feet up.
We found other cowboy campers lying on rocks like colorful caterpillars. The horizon glows yellow over the snow-capped mountains in the distance. We are surrounded by a mountain wall. It’s the same as our campsite last night: completely submerged as if in a mountain fish tank.
We catch the others as we go up. Together we continue uphill until we reach a river. The big rock is spaced far enough apart that I have to crawl over to it and recover before moving on to the next one.
The path is made of rocks and patches of green grass. There are giant snow patches along the trail. Dad told me to follow the map closely when navigating this section, so we all wandered around the clogged path for a bit.
When snow covers the road, it means that a new road must be formed. Either the path is formed through the snow, or it is formed by walking over different areas of the terrain (the rock, in this case).
Some put on spikes to walk in the snow. I don’t. I feel pretty safe while walking. Sometimes the boot prints I step on are slippery, but I try to maintain three points of contact between my feet and the trekking poles.
Too bad I already lost one end of my trekking pole. The snow has a clumpy pattern that looks like ocean waves from afar. It’s pretty difficult right now. As soon as the sun melts it, it will turn into sleet.
We climb the loose stone path until we reach the shelter. Inside, the stone pattern swirls upward. There are benches around the perimeter of the cabin. My group sits inside, accompanied by Jan (pronounced YAHN), a German hiking friend I met at Grumpy’s in Kennedy Meadows. He’s a boy my age with shifty eyes, a big smile, and a wild personality.
Outside, the mountains surround us with a pair of blue lakes in the background.
It’s very rugged out here. Just broken rocks everywhere!
We descend and pass by an incredibly blue lake. The river we crossed is full of smooth circular rocks. Rafiki rocks out like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. We all laugh as we watch him jump across the river with a flare.
We pass majestic rushing rivers that foam white as they move. We walked through an incredible space overlooking a stunning lake.
We break for lunch in a small corner and rest for a while. The water shines when the sun rises to tease us.
Soon we will be on our way again. Savannah and Lucy kept going, but I was still finishing packing, so Rafiki and I stayed together for the last half of the bike. We still have 14 miles to go.
It was a long walk.
It’s beautiful here, with corners that turn and give us mountain views. The river seems to explode with beauty as we cross bridges.
As we climb the last stretch, the mosquitoes come out to battle.
I’m pressing hard through the mosquitoes.
«They’re on top of you!» Rafiki says.
I’m out of breath but I keep pushing.
However, there is one thing that distracts me.
A small rodent is stopped on a rock, perhaps terrified that you are standing next to it. He is gray with clay brown color on his wide hands.
We moved on and found the others setting up the tents.
We joined them for dinner, fending off the mosquitoes.
«Wake me up tomorrow morning!» Jan has joined us again.
«We’ll just send someone to jump in the store with you,» I joke.
«I’m little hugged!» Jan says to Luxy in her thick German accent.
«Oh, we’ll send Bumper with you, in that case.»
Jan smiles with his shrewd eyes and bids us goodnight.
We settle into bed and soon go to sleep for another great day tomorrow.
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