June 27.
Got up with the sun at 6am. Quick breakfast with coffee, a bar and a poptart. The mosquitoes were already annoying, so I dressed with long hiking pants. A deer showed up while I had breakfast. It got pretty close and started eating flowers.
Left camp around 6.45am. Donahue pass was just 3.5 miles and 1500 feet altitude out. Made it to the top at 8.30am. Short break with a cliff bar – enjoying the view. The smoke from the fires near Reds Meadows were clearly visible in the distance.
Descending into Lyell Canyon.
Lunch break at 11am at mile 934.
Came into Tolumne Meadows around 3pm and ran into Panther, pitched my tent next to him. We went down to the shop/grill, had a burger.
Resupply shopping was mediocre… While the small shop had a lot of supplies, there were no dinners like Mountain House, Knorr or even mashed potatoes. So I bought a lot of tortillas, a jar of peanut butter and lots of tuna. Guess my dinners for the next 5 days will be mainly cold. Also no TP to buy… Will have to snatch that from the toilets on the campground I guess…
No sign of Cactass and Tinkle, guess they moved through quickly and are on their way into Yosemite Valley. Saw with Colin at least one familiar face. He was resupplying at the shop but seemed to plan to move on today.
Will enjoy my breakfast tomorrow morning at the grill and move out then.
And guess who showed up in the evening? Cactass and Tinkle returning from their hitchhiking into Yosemite Valley! They quickly did their resupply shopping, then we had dinner with beers in front of the Tuolumne shop and grill.
The world is big 