11,500 today May 27

Today we are almost above treeline. We are getting that cool alpine  breeze which makes hiking comfortable. The blooming flowers are gone or not yet above ground. There is still a little snow on north facing slopes so I guess spring has not yet arrived. What we are seeing are magnificent walls of granite and  tree sculptures that reveal the marvels hidden under bark and skiin. These pines grow in spirals. The inner wood twists around itself and looks elegantly braided. From the outside trees look like they grow straight up but what they do is twirl up.The wood swirls and twists and bends to accommodate itself to life. Look at the roots of an old weathered uprooted tree to see what wood can do. There is no finer place than the Sierra to see thousand year old pine trees still growing and standing strong with the wind, rain and snow, the elements that shape and mold them into works of art. First it was the flowers that captured my attention. Now it is the trees. Today I kept taking pictures, trying to capture the textures and curves. I gave up and just wanted to stand before them in wonder. 

     Update on items lost: one pair of sleeping socks; one red bandana; one Teva sandal, one more bandana. The bandanas are DG's. Today as she was leaving camp she realized her bandana was not in sight. TC had already left and DG felt a tad pressured to get going. For the first hour of hiking she obsessed about that special PCT bandana knowing it was gone.

She almost dropped her pack and ran  back two miles but her rule of thumb is to never go  back. Always forward. So she did the next best thing. She asked GOD to provide her with another one. She has done this before and has a high success rate. She disbelieved a little but kept her wits about  her. Within the hour there on the middle of the trail was a handkerchief! Honest. She picked it up and TC stuffed it in her pack. At the next stream she washed it. That was difficult because it was fairly disgusting- someone might have recently blown their nose on it but she persevered and rubbed it on a rock and re-rinsed it (until the slime factor had disappeared) She did not want to appear ungrateful to GOD. Things like this happen to her a lot, eventhough she might be a sorcerer.

     TC has worn through 5 prs. of socks, 2 prs of shoes. One set of hiking poles. And lost 1 half of her pr. of sandals. 

       Update on Topo. We just heard from a fellow hiker that she is off to the doctor again. Something is up with her nose. She apparently does not want    

to do the Sierra right now and may skip up to Taboe. Holy smokes!! What has happened to her nose and will we meet up again?

      Tomorrow we are hiking to the valley below Forrester pass- the highest pass on PCT. There will be snow and ice. We are prepared.

Here is Mt Whitney. Many of our fellow PCTers are taking the 17 mile detour to climb it. We get to pass since we have done it 3 times previously. However the hike we did today went west for 16 miles to get around this massive mountain. ( tallest in lower 48 states)

    DG saw 4 marmots today. One of them looked sassy and sleek spread out on the top of a boulder, shiny fur ruffling in the breeze. They look very cozy in their thick coats. 

     We slept in a meadow surrounded by deer. Oh yes, we are now in Sequoia National Forest and just passed through Inyo.