Day 64 - Tuolumne Meadows

(Originally written Tuesday, July 7)

My arrival at Tuolumne Meadows (TM) today marked the official end to the longest section of the trail according to my guidebook--a distance of nearly 200 miles. Despite the fact that it has been some of the most magnificent and awe-inspiring scenery, I'm not all that disappointed to be moving along. A person can only handle so much beautiful scenery before he or she gets overloaded. I gave up trying to capture moments with a camera because it just wasn't possible. It was a five-sense thing, not just a sight thing. Still, despite it being very hard work to make it through the High Sierras, I enjoyed it tremendously. After every climb, I could look down on the valleys below and know that I earned each view.

At Donohue Pass today, I was at the last point on the trail that is over 11,000' and it was bittersweet. High elevation has its advantages--solitude is usually one of them, but not today. There was a lot of foot traffic which kind of took away from the experience. But it was good nonetheless. Soon I'll be leaving 10,000' for good as well, and once I hit the Oregon border, I won't go over 8,000' for the remainder of my journey. It hardly seems possible.

Tomorrow is a resupply day. I've got about two days worth of food and need seven to make it to Echo Lake near Lake Tahoe. The store here at TM is a little lacking right now but they are expecting a big shipment tomorrow. So despite my urge to keep moving, I may be forced to sit for a little bit. But that definitely has its advantages as well. Sometimes my body needs the breaks even when I don't realize it. So for the time being, I'm showered and have clean laundry thanks to the generosity of one of the resort employees (shhh...I'm not actually a guest!). Hopefully I'll be fully resupplied tomorrow early afternoon and ready to hit it hard.