Day 72
I woke up around 4 am and it was like daytime the way the full moon lit up Mt. Ritter and the surrounding mountains, as well as Thousand Lakes. It was a serene feeling just enjoying the stillness and quietness of this special place.
Since I wake up an hour before we leave, I got to enjoyed a quiet and peaceful moment
with the full moon and did some long exposure photos
With the full moon, it just lit up Thousand Island Lake. This photo was taken at 4 o'clock in the morning.
Leaving Thousand Island Lake early in the morning with the moon setting
We started fairly early today, 5 am. The reason being we have 20 miles to cover to Tuolumne Meadows where we will hitch to Lee Vining for a minor resupply at the gas station. I did carry most of the food I needed tho for the section to Sonora Pass.
We hiked up Island Pass without much effort as we prepared ourselves for Donahue Pass. To be honest, Island Pass is not really a pass, even coming from the other side.
Right after Island Pass, we decided to wait for the sun to go over the mountain
A little bit of singing and dancing as we welcome the sunrise over the mountains.
Video of us singing and dancing at Island Pass as well as
glissading down Donahue Pass towards Lyell Fork Canyon.
Video courtesy of Isko Salminen
Island Pass
Going up towards Donahue Pass
It's a long ascent...
Looking back south towards Blis. It's definitely a bit hazy today.
Looking to the south of Donahue Pass, now we enter
Yosemite National Park going north
It was a long, gradual uphill on the snowfield and it was exciting reaching the top of Donahue Pass as it meant we have entered Yosemite, my favorite national park in the country. We then took a rest break looking North towards Tuolumne Canyon.
Resting on top of Donahue Pass looking towards Tuolumne Canyon
Caitlin and Blis doing a little fit bump for doing such awesome job on this previous section.
Time to head down from Donahue Pass
I love this view!
With all the snow, we simply decided to head straight down. Initially we glissaded but the snow only took us halfway down. Therefore we had to scramble down on some boulders but it wasn't bad. It was definitely the quickest way down back to the trail down below in Lyell Canyon. By the bridge at Lyell Fork, we finally took our lunch break.
After our lunch break, a few hikers caught us and some decided to take a plunge at Lyell Fork where the creek is right by the trail and is wide enough to take a dip. We then continued on and as we approached Tuolumne Meadows, a ranger came upon us and asked for our PCT permits and gave a little tap on our packs to make sure we are carrying a required hard sided container, aka bear canister.
Upon reaching Tioga Road, it was a surprisingly easy hitch from Roxanne for my entire trail family in her camper minivan, who's on a long road trip to New York. The Mobil gas station in Lee Vining was a nice surprise, with live music and tasty burgers. I also met the other Happy Feet on the trail, who I've been hearing about. She is getting back on trail after being off trail for about a month. We then retreated to the windy hill that night, above the gas station, overlooking Mono Lake.
