(click on any photo to enlarge)
The scenery on this trip has been so amazing. Today was no exception. We woke this morning to the rising sun lighting up the red rock of Sonora Peak. We haven't seen this type of rock before. It is much different from the grey granite we have been experiencing. It seems volcanic
Today will be our first 20+ mile day. We have all been getting use to walking the trail and are getting stronger so the mileage shouldn't pose any problems. Soon after leaving camp we began climbing up and over Sonora Peak. The morning light was just beautiful. From the pass, we could look back and far off in the distance, see the mountains over which we had crossed only days earlier. Quite astounding how far your own two feet can carry you!
We began descending down the back side of the pass into a canyon through which the East fork of the Carson River flows. Here again was the familiar granite we were accustomed to. I was taking my time working through the maze of rock and taking photos when I came upon a huge piece of granite that was in the shape of a perfect pyramid. So cool.
Later on when I met up with the gang Tammy asked me if I had seen the "Pyramid Rock". I said, "I sure did. I took some pictures of it". We had a little snack and continued down the trail, passing loads of wildflowers in every color imaginable.
Then we heard them. Off in the distance, but getting louder with every step. The ringing in our ears was not tinnitus but cowbells. Apparently, cattle are allowed to graze freely in this area. Each one had its own bell. The ringing of all the different pitched cowbells almost played a tune. The sound reminded me of when I was in Switzerland on a climbing trip. Every day the shepherds would walk their flocks through the streets of Zermatt. All the sheep wearing similar sounding bells. Seeing cows wandering through the woods made me smile.
However, the problem was, that with the cows came cow pies and with cow pies came polluted streams. When you spend any amount of time in the backcountry you rely on these streams for your drinking water. Not wanting to ingest any variety of lovely intestinal parasites we pressed on. We were planning on staying at Golden Canyon Creek for the evening but when we arrived at the creek, cows and cow pies were everywhere. BUMMER! So on we walked. Eventually we came to a pie free bluff where we could set up camp. It felt good to put our feet up after our first 20 mile day of the hike.
I watched the sun set, once again turning the hills a beautiful, peaceful orange color before I drifted off to sleep.
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