Today had 3 parts: Part 1: We summited Sonora pass in record time, not quite making it for the morning shuttle (so we thought) but getting up and over 13 miles by 11:30 am.

Part 2: we somehow were lucky enough to catch a return shuttle at 11:35 am to Kennedy Meadows North! Sadly when we got there there were probably around 40 hikers taking up spots on the shuttle back to the trailhead. We couldn’t get a return shuttle until 5 pm, forcing us to take 6 hours off from hiking and instead, eat, eat, eat some more, use WiFi, rest and resupply.

Part 3: finally we made it back to trail and at 5:40 pm, proceeded to hike 10.4 miles to our next campground. We kept up a 3 mph pace over and down steep ascents and descents, and at mile 22, racing up the last hill to try to beat out the darkness that was descending upon us. We made it in to camp at 9 pm completely exhausted and sweaty from how hard we pushed. Regardless, we rapidly set up our tent, at some leftover grill food from Kennedy Meadows, and bundled up into our quilts.

Today my body felt completely wrecked from our absurd pace and distribution of miles yesterday. We had to hit 26 miles, and they came so slowly that I had to drown out the stiffness and heaviness of my legs and arms with podcasts. Sadly, none of my audiobooks downloaded in town! I will not make that mistake again.

I had a great time catching up on American politics via Freakonomics, Deep State Radio, and Fever Dreams.

The views today were lovely, green meadows, trees, beautiful rock formations. The ups and downs of the trail were frustrating, but I guess I just have to accept that going forward.