Mile 562 to 566 (Nero)

Somewhere inbetween

We wake to the continuous howling wind and realize yet again why these monstrous turbines were placed on this particular pass. No bother. Today we are heading just 4 miles downhill to highway 58, where we hope to find sister Susan and her Camry coach waiting to whisk us to town. When we arrive her car is there, but she has wandered up the wrong trail hoping to meet us. If not blocked by an aggressive cow, who knows where she would be.

We pick up Whiskers, another thru-hiker, and make our way to town. It is predicted to rain today and tomorrow, so our zero day tomorrow is well timed. We have breakfast at a cafe, pick up Todd’s resupply package at the post office and check into the Best Western. Shopping at the grocery store is like a thru-hiker reunion. Everyone is there scrounging for Snickers bars and other supplies for the 7 or so days it will take to get to Kennedy Meadows.

As the temperature drops, the rain turns to hail and snow in the hills around us. We are very glad not to be out there in it. We watch local news hoping to find weather information, only to realize how little we have missed the negative drivel known as the evening news. We turn to an air disaster movie marathon and fall asleep.

Hotel in Storm