[7] the sierras, continued

howdy friends! I’ve put off writing this message until about 10 minutes before I have to head on trail, so I’ll be (very) brief.

Last weekend I hung out with my uncle Nyle and aunt Sadaf, who very kindly drove out from San Jose equipped with Japanese baked goods, luxuriously pampering face masks, and assorted packages for my travels. Feeling very lucky to have their love in my life!

James, Sierra and I then took a relatively chill detour on the John Muir Trail basically to see more alpine lakes. We got hit with some pretty intense weather (snow, wind, hail, etc) and were glad to pull back into Mammoth Lakes (courtesy a hitch from the only hitchhiking catholic priest-author I’ve ever met) and fat chill for a few days. James is headed home, and Sierra is taking a brief break from trail, so alas the gang is breaking up. But it’s been a good long run!

Also finally met the one other Pakistani gal on trail — Long One, or Sophia. We’d met before on train but only put two and two together when we coincidentally ended up at the same hostel. We cooked and chatted together; ‘twas food for the belly and food for the soul. :) She’s wrapping up the whole trail in a few days, which is friggin’ incredible.

Now I’m headed back to trail for a 120 miles haul to Bishop … my pack is the heaviest it’s been so far. Gotta catch my bus now but will throw some pics below.

Trail magic from the inimitable Click.

Photo credit James ^ (gossamer gear pls sponsor meeee)

Photo credit Sierra ^