October 1

Distance: 23.6 miles | Ascent: 5150′ | Descent: 5530′

Mile marker: 1786.4

Lunch: J&A – Shin ramen (A, ?)

Dinner: J – spaghetti mac with hash browns (B-), A – protein bars (?)

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We camped at Virginia Lake last night. When we arrived in the dark, we couldn’t see enough to really appreciate it. In the morning, it was beautiful! It was also cold, with icy spots on the surface suggesting temps had dropped below freezing last night. Fortunately we had slept with our water filters in our sleeping bags – their membranes get destroyed if they freeze.

We were at high altitude for most of the morning. It felt wintery with the gray skies and a nip in the air.

We saw a pika! Probably the first since Washington.

Just before lunch we reached the top of Silver Pass at 10,934 ft. The cold and windy pass was surrounded by grey granite and blue lakes. As we progress through the Sierra, our days will usually feature a climb up and over a pass (the low point on a mountain ridge).

We descended from the pass into a scenic valley where the trees are beginning to show signs of fall.

As we got to camp near sunset, the fading sun lit up a peak near us. It was an especially dramatic scene.

We ended up camping at a site with another tent already set up, its camper inside, when we arrived. That’s quite a rare thing for us! Most nights, we seem to have the forest all to ourselves. We were quiet, but whoever it was was eating from a bag of chips. We were a tad jealous.