July 14

Started the day with an apple and coffee served to me in my tent by Bloody Knuckles, then moved onto a spoonful of peanut butter and chocolate chips from Freight Train, then a brand new trowel from Pepperjack to take shits with, then placebo jerky at lunch from Batteries, still more at dinner with pudding from Frieght Train one hell of a great birthday crossing Sonora Pass along weird new volcanic ranges, turning away from Sierra granite and towards the lower tip of the Cascades. As a finale, a rich and surprising chocolate peanut butter Jello no-bake cake was served up on the top of Sonora Peak and shared with spoons by everyone. Five of us have managed to squeeze onto a notch, perched high above the road, surrounded by crags and layers of ranges.

A joyous day crossing Sonora. Very little technical demand, but with all the pleasures of high mountaineering. Views to the rear of the farewell Sierra, hard edge back ranges piled with white, a stretching ahead of us is the gentle curve of a new geology. A long and slow climb upwards, a quick descent down a north-facing wall of snow; sliding and skiing. I even had to self arrest at one point.

Thoughts today of our damaged land sequoias once slanted in Kearsarge Pass, grizzly no longer haunting these slopes, Yosemite Valley turned to Disneyland California is less complete.