We broke camp early eager to hike the 11 miles to Sonora Pass then hitch to Kennedy Meadows north for a resupply shower and maybe a couple beers!

It was one of the coldest mornings we’ve had since the winter storm a couple weeks ago.

The trail led us out of the pine tree filled valley and up a barren windy mountain.

We ran into patches of snow as we climbed.

Some stretches were pretty steep. Between the wind, loose rocks and snow, we had to dig in and fight for every step.

The higher we climbed, the more snow we ran into.

We eventually reached the top and wound our way down to Sonora Pass.

We made it to the road crossing at Sonora Pass in the early afternoon.

We were able to get a hitch down the mountain to Kennedy Meadows – a campground, store and horse outfitter.

First thing on our to do list was to return our rented bear cans! At 2lbs 8 oz a piece, we’ve been looking forward to getting rid of them for a while.

Next up was dinner! We both had a filling steak dinner before we set off down the road to an area where hikers could camp for free.