Feeling pretty down in Mammoth, I didn’t know what to do. Luckily things have a strange way of working out. Rodeo showed up and made my life a lot better. He lent me money and invited me to stay in a room that he had gotten with Curry and Lieutenant Dan, the people he was hiking with.

So instead of sleeping in a park and eating cold ramen, I got a hot meal, a warm shower and a clean bed.

The room in Mammoth.

We all left together from Mammoth. For some reason we all felt sick and nauseous. This caused us to take it relatively slow through the section.

Muir hut.  One of the High Sierra passes.

In the morning, a few days later, Curry and Lieutenant Dan weren’t feeling great, so me and Rodeo went on without them.

One of many failed photos on top of Mather Pass.

At the end of the day, Me and Rodeo got to Marjorie Lake, before Pinchot pass. The wind was terrible so we cowboy camped in some bushes to stay sheltered.

Our little fortress. The entertainment in our fortress. All cozied up.

Thinking we outsmarted the weather we fell asleep. 5am I woke up to Rodeo punching me in the face, telling me it was raining on us. It wasn’t. It was snowing. We wrapped ourselves in my tent to stay dry. We didn’t succeed.

Sudden winter wonderland.

Driven by the thought of camping wet and cold, we pushed all the way to Kearsarge Pass and Onion Valley. Nearly 30 miles over 3 passes. Since Rodeo already hiked up to Canada, this was a big moment as it meant he successfully hiked the whole trail!

When we got to Onion Valley trail head it was near dark. Unsuccessful to get a ride, we prepared to sleep on the floor in a pit toilet to stay dry.

Luckily we were picked up last minute and got into the great town of Bishop.

Celebration dinner in Bishop.

The past two weeks have been unreal. Jam packed with sights that leave you awestruck, not knowing if you want to cry or laugh. Because it’s all so big and beautiful that it becomes somewhat unfathomable. And that makes us feel small. We’re left to decide if that scares us or comforts us. I don’t know, so for now, I’ll just keep laughing, with tears running down my cheeks.

And that’s the end of the trail in the Sierra. I’ve now hiked the part I missed. Filled in a puzzle piece. The only thing left is to fly up to Seattle and hike the last 200 miles to the Canadian border.