Kennedy Meadows North 6/19

Above Sonora Pass. 

Yesterday we went over Sonora Pass, one of Firecrackers favorites. Three years ago she went over the pass with TC and  Carolyn Biddick in a lightening thunder storm. TC tends to run when she sees lightning and we all know what FC does (you know, she laughs and screams demonically to the powers asking, "Is that all you got"?) TC began to run and FC ran after her deciding that if they were going to be hit they should be hit together. They didn't get hit but they did see a lightning bolt come up from the ground and join a bolt coming down from the sky. This occurred in the valley not on the ridge where all the running was going on. Yesterday skies were blue and the wind cold. The rock is volcanic with hardly any plants growing except lichen and fluorescent moss. The ascent was 2500 to a ridge and then some traversing. There was snow on the north side but hard enough to avoid leg-sucking. TC and FC have been travelling with 5 other people for the last three days. Mainly they pass each other through-out the day and finally end up camping together. This has been riotous fun. Lots of laughing and loud screaming. FC has been in rare form. She has not been with people for awhile (except for TC) and that spark that gets ignited by the presence of certain people burned and exploded uncontrollably. She sang, she danced, she spoke with funny accents, she made faces and acted like a nut on drugs. This continued at the Kennedy Meadows Resort. The group (now included 8 people) bunked together, 5 in one room and 3 in the other. TC and FC had the pleasure of Tortuga's (retired park ranger) company. Lights were out by 9.00pm, even in the rowdy room next door. The showers were great (hot water), they had 3 washing machines and 3 dryers unlike the one washing machine at Kennedy Meadows south. This place was a resort and massive ranch. They had 240 horses and cowboys to go with them, dressed in their tight jeans and sexy cowboy boots and hats.There were cowboys everywhere; in the lobby talking about investing in stocks and bonds; young cowboys in the corral practicing their lassoing, cowboys leading horses around. Manly  cowboys. Where the heck were all the manly cowgirls?

       The food was surprisingly good and all the hikers manifested their overeating disorders, eating lunch at 2.00 then dinner again at 5.00. Hikers believe they must eat a lot on these "town" trips to fatten themselves up. Mainly they just make themselves sick and have upset stomachs for days.

    We had to hitchhike to KMeadows and got picked up by a couple in a pickup who had never picked up a hitch hiker in their combined lives. They picked up 6 of us. FC being the smallest person got to lay over 4 people's legs. TC sat up in front with the stunned chihuahua and the driver and his wife. The dog didn't make a sound, which surprised the owners. FC thought that the dog  could not differentiate whether these 6  beings were animals or humans on account of the smell. The confusion kept its yapper shut. The ride was entertaining and slightly nauseating because of the steep, winding road. We all survived.