Sonora Pass

8/04/08
The road south out of Lake Tahoe leads to a complexity of highway passes heading west back over the Sierra crest: Echo Pass, Luther Pass, Carson Pass, Ebbetts Pass. It was an attractive area with many possible trips, but I was unable to explore it as much as it deserved. I had to pick one and I settled on Sonora Pass. The highway to the pass is a beast, the steepest pass on my entire trip. I had to take it in first gear. The west side of Sonora Pass was the most lush I'd seen thus far in the Sierras.  I camped for $6 at Fish Creek, quite nice and quite empty but with a lot of gunfire across the way.
 
Here the PCT trailhead is 9620', and the trail's high point at 10,840', so I had a rather relaxing stroll into the Emigrant Wilderness. Windy! Despite the altitude the landscape is rather hill and daley, without the relief of the big holes. The flowers give it away though: very tight-cropped tundra-style. Lots of them. I didn't notice any altitude problem, but my back hurt. In fact, if it weren't for my back I'd have been happy as a plum. I hadn't taken any painkillers, so I was optimistic. I would have to take a day or two off and hope for the best, as I had the Minarets ahead of me! The trail took a (literal) dramatic turn into a landscape dominated by volcanic rock and overlooking an expanse of alpine lakes, including the first icy tarn I'd seen thus far in the Sierra. My turnaround was as good a place as I'd been so far on the trip. 360 degrees of greatness.

Some very snowy peaks stood off in the distance - the Minarets? the Lyell Group? Distant Nevada Peaks appeared snow-covered but I had to assume that was simply the soil type. Another closer range has a different discolor that I did not recognize. The road cut to Sonoma Pass looked like Yellowstone Canyon. The rolling hills down from Sonora Pass: yikes!

I was walking along the trail transfixed by the expansive landscape when I saw this small dark shape I hadn’t noticed before. I couldn’t figure out what it was. I noticed, though, that it was moving slowly and only then did I realize that it was the shadow of a cloud. I looked up and it took me a few seconds to even find a cloud in the bright blue sky. A little puff of a cloud, the first one I’d seen in two weeks. I was starting to get a sense of California summer.