Day 36: To Walker Pass
From mile 628.1 to Walker Pass / CA 178 mile 652
It was windy all last night but I was protected just enough that I could sleep. I did not have the rain fly on so the wind could blow through the tent. The body of the tent is solid fabric from the ground up about 2 feet so when laying down you are at least not getting sandblasted in the face.
I woke to the sunrise you see above. I was up, packed up and walking by 5:30. It was actually chilly, mostly because of the 30mph winds. In 4 miles I got to the water cache and got water and made breakfast. I had a bit of delay because I could not turn the valve on my stove. It is tiny and my hands were too cold and just could not do it. I got my down jacket out and warmed up.
Long but for some reason easy climb all morning followed by a long decent in the afternoon. Several views of the snowy Sierra Nevada that is coming.
24 miles got me to Walker Pass where CA 178 crosses the trail. There is a small BLM campground here and a couple had all sorts of goodies out for hikers. I had ice cold coke and donuts.
In the morning I will hitch to Onyx and try to get my package. The P.O. is not open on Sat but in the morning someone is there to sort mail so I will knock.
Knee hurt pretty bad this afternoon after the long drop down to the pass. Did not lock up but was worse than it has been on this trip so far.
You really get extremes, don’t you Jon…from boiling hot to frozen hands and down coats! I hope to read in tomorrow’s blog that your knee is better.