Donohue Pass
I drifted into another group of hikers and walked with four young guys over Donohue Pass (11,000 feet) today. It was a very tiring 20 miles, more than half on snow, with 3,500 feet of elevation gain, constantly watching thunderstorms roll past in adjacent valleys, but quite satisfying even though we didn’t reach the summit until past 5 pm. And I’m in good position now to hit Tuolumne Meadows, a major landmark, tomorrow morning.
I continue to be amazed at the sheer amount of water everywhere as the snow melts. Around midday we negotiated a set of three creek crossings which, in a typical year, might barely get your feet wet. For the deepest one all five of us linked up, hanging on to each other to ford the waist-deep river, and Honeybuzz, who took the upstream position deflecting the brunt of the current, admitted he probably couldn’t have stood up alone; it was too strong. Wet feet all day isn’t so bad, but I do grimace when putting on soaking, cold shoes each morning…
In reading your updates, I’ve had some thoughts that I will share:
1) Are you Permitted and/or have acess to dry wood, to build a fire to cook food, dry shoes, ward off Mosquitoes… etc.
2) We’ve seen that sometimes people have left food for you, but how about finding food along the way (such as berries or fishing).
3) How do you charge your phone? Besides Lack of Cell Covereage, is the lack of power an issue?