Today’s transition from the volcanic landscapes of Sonora Pass to the granite domes and walls of Yosemite National Park was sudden and dramatic.

This is the main building at the Kennedy Meadows Ranch. I slept upstairs and had breakfast at 6:00 with the ranch-hands.

All the horses at the ranch were eating their breakfast too.

The hitch back up to the trail was rough. A grand total of 3 cars went by in 45 minutes…and by that time there were four of us looking for a ride. Luckily, Mrs. Focus came to the rescue! She was heading back up to the Pass to set up camp and wait for her husband hiking through the next day.

Lots of snow on the peaks as we climbed toward Sonora Pass.

I was happy and surprised to run into Steve and Diane going Northbound today. We had originally met back in Tehachapi and then were hiking around each other through the northern half of Oregon. They are doing a flip-flop-flip. Since they are from Canada they really wanted to end their hike at the terminus so they headed back to the Sierras to finish that before going back up to Northern Washington to finish the last 60 miles to the border. They get high marks for all their transportation logistics planning!

There were a couple of significant snow patches today. Sonora Pass is known for its sketchy slopes in June /July even in a normal snow year.

The Butcher near the top of Sonora Pass.
The long sweeping switchbacks down volcanic scree toward Kennedy Creek.

Then a gentle climb up Dorothy Pass takes us to the incredible granite domes and alpine lakes of Yosemite.

Dorothy Lake.

The trail followed the broad Falls Creek valley most of the evening.

I found a perfect little tent site around 7:15pm near the creek just as the sun was setting.

2448 trail miles completed
202 miles to go