The Walk of a Lifetime. Day 2. 10 miles. 21,070 steps.

Ruby Lake.
Oh it never rains in the Sierra's in August?  Hah!  Walked all day in the rain. Especially hard after 1000 Island Lake. We decided to walk on to Garnet Lake with the goal of perhaps seeing Kevin and Bodie (they were going to walk from Red's Meadow as far as they could to the Park boundary at Donahue Pass. Sure enough rain started really coming down hard and there was Kevin and Bodie at Ruby Lake.

Thank goodness. One wet husband and a very wet dog who was serious about sharing my 1 person tent. Ick.

Today was EPIC. Hands down one of the best scenic 10 miles I have ever hiked. Left Lyell Canyon and started up Donahue Pass.

Beautiful 2000 ft gain in 3 miles.  Not bad and amazing trails with rock steps that weren't built for horses or people with very long legs (Park System). Met the cute Oklahoma girls, Leah and Heather. So sweet. They were so excited when we told them that bodie would be somewhere on the trail. Heather so missed her dog. Had lunch at a very nice little alpine Meadow on the south side of Donahue. First glimpse of the Minarets, Banner and Ritter. If I had a choice hike, it would be through this Meadow between Donahue and Island Pass. It was like a storybook I would have read to Erin. Just short of Snow White popping out, it was truly something.

Joan had studied up on her JMT pages of this section and gave us a great geology lesson that Elizabeth would have been proud of.

We are having a great time, in spite of the rain. We walk alone and together well. Did a slow walk alone this morning taking lots of pics of all the beautiful Sierra alpine flowers.

So nice to have Kevin and Bodie with us tonight and our walk out tomorrow. Rain is coming down especially hard right now but I'm cozy in my little tent with a wet smelly dog.

Tip of the day.  Don't backpack with a dog in rainy weather and only have a single person tent.