Day 61 - Sunday, June 27

Tenting at Kennedy Canyon Creek (mile 1005.9). Walked 26.1 miles today.

Woke up about 4 and lay awake until Frank's alarm went off at 4:30.  Since our tents are close together, the alarm wakes me up as well.  As Frank takes longer to get ready in the morning, she had instructed me to stay in bed until 5 am (hoping that I would take the opportunity to get more sleep, but once I'm awake, I don't go back to sleep). I technically did what she had requested...I didn't get out of my bag until after 5, but I did start packing up while I was still in my bag.

We left camp at 6 am and began our first of four big climbs on the day. We hiked with bug nets on and I went ahead and waited at the top for Frank.

When she arrived, we set off down the other side. After a steep descent on a horrible trail, we met a hiker going southbound who told us that the mosquitoes get worse farther up the trail. I had to take a moment here to clear my mind and get in a better mindset as this was hugely unwelcome news. After I felt better, I caught up with Frank and we hiked up another tough climb.

After another descent, we crossed a stream and met Happy Accident who was sitting on a rock where there were fewer mosquitoes. After sitting with her and another hiker called Flavortown who showed up shortly after, Frank and I began the long but relatively gentle climb up to Dorothy Lake Pass. The trail tread was good and we were able to hike at a fast pace.

About 3 miles from the lake near the summit, we ran into Magnet, Narrator and Dilly Dally (who we met at Tuolumne Meadows). They were finishing up lunch and after a quick conversation, Frank and I kept climbing. I was feeling good, so I took off up the mountain with Frank right behind me. After a few miles, I reached Dorothy Lake and our lunch spot, proud to have averaged almost 3 mph up a moderately steep section.

A minute later, Frank rolled up and lay down on a rock. Apparently she had tried to keep up with me and it about killed her. After lunch by the lake, Magnet showed up and we hiked to Dorothy Lake Pass together. At the top, we officially exited Yosemite National Park and Frank and I continued on while Magnet took some time at the top.

The trail wasn't much better on the way down, but it improved after a couple miles. About 3 miles after the pass, we reached out biggest and most significant milestone yet: 1,000 miles.

There were a couple others at the mark and we took pictures and then walked on while playing the Proclaimers "500 Miles." Shortly after, we ran into Thin Mint and chatted briefly before hiking to the next water source and grabbing water to make it to camp. I walked slowly from the source as my left heel was hurting a bit. Frank caught up to me pretty quickly and we hiked up to a campsite where we found AB camped for the night. Thin Mint rolled in and planned to camp there as well. We pushed on another couple of miles.

The terrain has already started to change quickly from the Yosemite granite to a scree and talus-type rock. We hiked through a forest and got to a campsite where a bunch of people were already camped. We found a couple spots away from them which was good because they were loud and playing what sounded like baseball. We cooked and went to bed fairly early as tomorrow morning will be an early one.