VVR to Tuolumne Meadows

6/29 - We got a late start out of VVR having spent the morning hanging out at the restaurant with friends. It was a steep hike out up to Silver Pass. As we had hiked out in the heat of the day, we took a quick break to swim and lounge in a river. We camped for the night upon reaching the top of Silver Pass where we watched an incredible sunset from the comfort of our tent out of reach from the Mosquitos.

6/30 - Silver Pass to Reds Meadow. We spent the day hiking with Pooh Bear, Snowcone, Cookie Monster, Bliss, and Rain Maker. We rushed through the first half of the day in order to spend some time at Virginia Lake where we found a decent boulder to jump from into the freezing water. One jump was enough! Golden Boy (Ryan) could hardly stand the pain induced by the glacial waters. Later that afternoon, we reached our 900th mile! We stopped for entertaining pictures and some celebratory high fives. As the sun sank, we made our way into Reds Meadow where we unexpectedly found magic from trail workers. It was a good night full of feasting on fresh fruit, PB&J, Cold Cuts, brownies, beer, and soda. Explagrance kept us up all night hyped up on caffeine from the pop. At least she was entertaining!

7/2 - after taking a fiesta filled zero day in Mammoth, a quaint ski resort town a short yet motion-sickness-inducing bus ride away, we hiked a short distance to Agnew Meadows. On the way, we visited The Devils Postpile National Monument, a natural rock formation created from glacial carved lava. I'm sorry that's a terrible explanation of what it is. We passed by Minaret Falls and an Aspen Pine graveyard where thousands of trees were uprooted from 140 mile per hour winds.

7/3 - Agnew Meadows to just outside of Tuolumne. The morning was spent hiking along a ridge line with semi interesting views of the Minaret Mountain Peaks across the valley. We made our way to Thousand Island Lakes (a lake with significantly less than a thousand islands) where we made a half hearted attempt to swim in the frigid water. As we made our way to Donahue Pass, the weather began to turn. The thunder slowed our pace and the lightning stopped us altogether as we knew it was unsafe to climb to the peak, the first place lightning tends to strike. We posted up for a couple hours waiting for the storm to pass. Donahue Pass was thoroughly eventful, lacking the incredible views that other high Sierra passes offered. A blackbear guided us downtrail as we searched for camp along a snaking river.

7/4 - We neroed 6 miles into Tuolumne Campground in the early morning in order to reserve a site for the incoming hikers. Golden Boy hurried into town to meet Rain Maker at the ranger station so they could acquire 2 of the extremely limited permits required to hike Half Dome in Yosemite. They were successful! When we picked up our post, we were surprised to find that we had not just one but two packages from Lindsay's friend Julie Frost. She had generously provided us with almonds, a variety of dried fruits, and a very sweet card! Thank you so much Julie! We made our way back to the campground where Rain Makers family arrived to provide us with a July 4th BBQ so that we did not go famished and without celebration! There may not have been fireworks, but that bit of magic lifted our spirits! Explagrance's shouts of joy woke the entire campground the next morning when she tried on the size TWO pair of pants that Solstice wanted to get rid of...and they fit (Kelsey and Amy, I do not appreciate being called a bitch)!