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I began counting instantly. "One one thousand, two one thousand..." BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
A bedraggled stranger looked upon my approach in disbelief. "Are you seriously heading up there now?!" he asked with his hood cinched tightly around his damp brow. A mixture of rain and hail was falling, and a downpour seemed imminent.
"Yeah, I think so," I responded uncertainly.
"Then run. As fast as you can." That sounded cool to me. I felt like I was in a movie.
Donohue Pass is at 11,073 feet. With a long approach up Lyell Canyon from Tuolumne Meadows, you are finally in the High Sierra. Ordinary dayhikers aren't found meandering here, not this far away from the comforts of Yosemite Valley. Donohue Pass is deep in Yosemite's backcountry. You are exposed. You can see glaciers. You hear a disquieting ringing sound in your ears. Your hair is standing up. You get a metallic taste in your mouth. You are in a lightning storm. Classic!
"It seemed not to be clothed with light, but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city."
When John Muir gazed upon the Sierra Nevada he was moved spiritually. Among the bolts of lightning and claps of thunder I felt like I was having an out of body experience there too.
The poncho-clad man who I encountered before Donohue was distraught himself. His hiking partner was somewhere above us in the chaos. With only 500 feet of ascent to go, I felt caught in-between safe zones. I could descend back into the trees, or climb over the pass and descend into the trees on the opposite side. It was akin to being amidst the action sequences of the blockbuster Twister, but without having Bill Paxton there telling you when to duck.
Lyell Canyon, looking up towards Donohue Pass
I hurried my ascent. The flashes of lightning were closely followed by thunder. The storm was approximately two miles away. I passed by a few more backpackers before commencing my own all-out sprint to the top of the pass.
The look of terror on Donohue Pass.
Cresting the pass doubled as the height of my exposure whilst also signifying my entrance into the Ansel Adams Wilderness. I guess this is why I felt the need to take a picture?...
All photography jokes aside, I was scared. I actually saw another southbounder ahead of me running downhill. "That person is really smart," I shared openly as I quickened my pace. You can see this moment yourself in my most-recent video in the YouTube Hike of Ice and Fire series. I was running with a fully-loaded pack to lower elevations! Look out below!
This was a frightening moment. The thunder was rolling and echoing in the deep granite valley. I didn't feel safe until reaching treeline, and I probably wasn't actually safe until the storm seemed to finally move away. This was my first lightning-related scare on the PCT. It probably won't be the last time I experience this type of threat. Be on the lookout for dark clouds. They roll in fast!
The payoff on the south side of Donohue was substantial. When the rains cleared I had a beautiful view of Banner Peak and Thousand Island Lake....
Not to be deterred, I bushwhacked to the nearest-and-only road (there isn't another road for 200 miles, this is the longest roadless stretch in the Lower 48 States). As I emerged from the woods, a taxi magically appeared and took me into town. The trail (read: road?) provides!
My time in Mammoth Lakes would encompass many happenings... My second "zero" while hiking the PCT, an amazing story of being trail angeled by an attractive group of ladies at a supermarket (they frisked me to ensure that I wasn't armed), a fortuitous encounter with a JMT Hiker (John Muir Trail - coincides with the PCT from approximately Tuolumne Meadows until Mount Whitney), and ultimately my introduction to The Wrong Way Gang.
This town re-charged me. The trail angels graciously cooked dinner and breakfast for me, we shared stories, I was given a complimentary tour of the actual Mammoth Lakes themselves, AND they even joined me for a 3-mile section on the Pacific Crest Trail. Their kindness was absolutely appreciated. I can't believe that a simple conversation at the grocery store resulted in such great acts of kindness. (They noticed that my shopping cart only consisted of junk food, which required an explanation of how a human could have such an unhealthy diet.) They endured my scent (no deodorant since June 24th) and my unkempt appearance (well I did wash my socks in a South Lake Tahoe bathroom about a week earlier). I am in their debt.
Meeting new friends re-charged me. The Wrong Way Gang is legendary. I've been reading their names in trail registers since Stehekin, WA. Harpo and Groucho are a long-distance couple who hiked the AT in 2013. Their entries in registers are always entertaining, and their company more so. Groucho is the only man I know to complete the 24-24-24 Challenge (24 beers in 24 miles in 24 hours). Harpo maintains a daily blog called "Songs Out of the City" and she sings with me on the trail. She is the only person to successfully complete the "1.Poo" challenge, which is of course when you are able to use the outdoor restroom, hike 1.2 miles, all in under 20 minutes. Incredible. I've failed every time I try! Huck is from the great country of Denmark and has the ability to communicate with animals. He is the most amicable man on earth, and his method of hiking without pants has created the new verb, "Huck-ing." Twinless has unparalleled spunk and already encourages us to think about the Continental Divide Trail. She also accidentally triggered her SPOT GPS while hiking naked, a verb that we now know as, "Twinless-ing." Bug has a food blog called "nourishingjourneypct.com" and she has an adorable puppy dog named Sprout who joins us occasionally on our southbound trek. Bug, who completed a SOBO PCT thru-hike in 2014, continues to section hike with us, a verb we now know as, "Bugging Out."
This group is awesome. Trail Angels are awesome. Drinking wine all night with Trail Angels did, however, cause me to sleep in as the Wrong Way Gang departed from our hostel in Mammoth Lakes, CA.
Whoops.
A blurry photo that will leave you wondering, "Who is this 'Wrong Way Gang?'" "Will Future Dad catch them?" "Will 'Future Dad-ing' become a verb?"
Blogging is fun.
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