September 23

Distance: 27.1 miles | Ascent: 5240′ | Descent: 5600′

Mile marker: 1628.5

Lunch: J&A – mac n cheese (A-, A-)

Dinner: J&A – dahl (C+, B), J – spaghetti mac (B+), J&A – peach cobbler (A-, A+)

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We wish we knew more about geology. There are a lot of cool rocks. Some rocks are pointy. Some are round. Grey rocks are next to brown rocks. Some rocks are even greenish or blueish or purple or pink. Today was a geologist dream come true, probably. Just a lot of good rocks all around, including a big hill of those hexagonal lava rock column structures! We do not recall their name.

We came across more cows today roaming around, clanging their bells. Do they know that they ring when they move? Cows are not the smartest animal. They might not know their collar is the source of the ringing. They might even think that they themselves are the source. That is, if the cows are smart enough to think. These are the types of conversations we have on trail…

We saw a new bird! Disappointingly, we couldn’t identify it. It had an orangeish red head and grey body, and it stretched upside down to reach food below. Help us if you know. We gotta add it to our life list! We saw some waterfowl in a lake, too. Too far away to ID with certainty, but maybe teals or small mallards (if Sierra Nevada mallards are smaller?).

We discovered a huge difference between the two of us today. That might sound like a bad thing, but we believe it makes us stronger together. Jason prefers Lifesavers hard candies, and Alex prefers Jolly Ranchers. Even among just Lifesavers, we have different flavor preferences: Jason likes the orange ones best, and Alex is indifferent, believing they all taste practically the same. For Jolly Ranchers, Jason believes the blue ones are tasteless whereas Alex ranks those towards the top. In essence, we can share a bowl of hard candies and neither will be disappointed.

Alex also found a big mushroom! It initiated a persistent phase of pancake cravings.

We got to camp in the dark, but we’re pros at nighttime now. We have a plan for our resupply tomorrow that will revolutionize team hiking.