June 15

It seems like each new set of peaks we traverse becomes more and more carved, more angular, more timbered. The Sierra is emerging. It is as if there is a slow twist of the lens and the whole range comes into focus, a vague outline of peaks becoming more crisp and clear as I walk north. We got our first real view of the high Sierra today. They rose up on the far-away horizon like an army of granite waves surging upwards, snow-flanked titans, an elevated world lying imminently in my future.

I began the day today just before sunrise with my new hiking partner, a gentleman who goes by the name of Mountain Goat. We climbed around huge knobs of lichen painted rock while the sun was still hidden on the east side of the mountain, perfect timing for sure. On the other side of the valley the mountains were burning. Upon reaching an upper plateau, we met two hikers named Rabbit and Nitro, then cruised through a flat ridge of burnt pinyon pines during the high heat and made twenty miles before 3pm. After a reunion at Walker Pass with Sage and Allisa, I hitched 20 miles down the highway to an isolated desert town called Onyx. The town consisted of a single gas station and a post office, the buildings bleached by sun. We watched the wierd local characters go in and out of the gas station while gorging ourselves on microwave burritos, corn dogs, ice cream, and gatorade. We bought snacks to bring to our friends waiting back at the trail and got a hitch back to Walker Pass in a big semi truck that was hauling hay along the two-lane highway. As the sun fell, we hauled four miles up onto a crest where are now bedded, out in the open, currents of wind breaking against the ridge.

It is truly a crime not to hike into the late evening the light goes pale against the rock, shadows lengthen into shapes like continents, the air cools to a pleasant temperature, you feel strong from a full days hike perfection.