21 September 2017, Thursday
At 2 am we realize it has begun to snow. I am not too worried as the forecast before leaving on this trip was for “a dusting of snow” this night. O wakes at 6 am and peers outside. The wind gusts have rattled us through the night. Now there are about two inches of snow on the ground and it continues to fall fast. We realize we must pack up and leave promptly, before the trail out is entirely obscured. We eat a cold breakfast of peanut butter crackers and bourbon chocolate chip brownies as we pack up the tent. I thump my hands against the fly to remove the accumulated snow, but it collects again, quickly. By 8 am we are packed and ready to go. Our packs are considerably lighter, not only because of all the food we have eaten, but also because we are wearing all of our layers. On the upside, we are both quite warm. L’shana Tova indeed!
We begin our hike out from the winter wonderland. Although there are slick spots, the trail is not nearly as slippery as I feared. We walk slowly, working together to find the trail, at places completely obscured by snow. The path across the granite is marked by rows of stones, but some are now invisible in the white wilderness.
We check the map frequently and at one juncture, check our location with the GPS as well. The going is slow, but steady. We are reassured at times by the steps that have been built into the trail. At least, when we find them, we know we are on the right track. We finally cross over the ridge between Dingleberry and Blue Lake. Blue Lake is visible below, but it is not at all clear which way to proceed. Just as we are getting a bit worried, a lone hiker with an enormous pack, big boots and a bloody hand shows up behind us. He has been following our tracks since Dingleberry and compliments us on our trail-finding. He is sure we must have been here before since we found the path so well. We explain it is our first trip up here. Happily, he is quite familiar with the area. He had been planning on climbing Darwin Peak today, but thought the better of it. He injured his hand in a slip and fall on the way down from Midnight Lake.
Our hiker friend guides us down to Blue Lake. As we pause for shelter beneath some pines I bandage his hand. Below Blue Lake the trail becomes more clear. We are finally done with the granite domes. Our friend has much longer legs than ours and he takes off down the mountain, but now we have a less snowy path to follow and it is punctuated by giant boot prints.
As O and I descend, the snow finally clears and the sky turns a brilliant blue. The day’s hike becomes much more enjoyable. Vincent waits faithfully at trail’s end with no signs of bear attacks. We are back in Bishop by 2 pm where we check back into the Village Motel, enjoy hot showers and then dine in a warm restaurant. We begin to sort laundry and reorganize for our canoe trip next week.
