I had another meltdown early on because I was wondering what the heck I was doing. A little of the way up to Cloud's Rest I asked John if he cared if I just went back to camp and waited for him. He said he really wanted to do it together. All we took were our Nalgenes, so no packs. Ugh, I did not want to do this hike, mostly because it wasn't adding to our trail mileage and it was such a steep climb. It was completely uphill for 3.8 miles! To help myself get through the hike I counted my steps to 20 over and over again. It helped me get my mind off the pain I was experiencing. I got that helpful tip from Cheryl Strayed who wrote Wild (fantastic book). Finally, finally we made it to the top!! And it was beautiful and I was thankful I did it.
Panoramic shot at the top of Cloud's Rest
Another Cloud's Rest shot
Looking down at Half Dome
Then we went downhill and I thought I really wanted to go down but, man oh man, did my feet hurt. Down is a different kind of pain than going up. They are both evil. I prefer flat. Kidding, but not really. So we made it back to camp around 11 something (we left around 7 a.m.) and made lunch. After lunch, we broke camp and started back on the trail. We wanted to get some trail miles in before the end of the day. It was mostly flat, a little uphill and a little down.
Yep, that's John out there
All sorts of critters out there
No big deal until we were a couple miles deep and we crossed a creek then it was 2700 feet and over a mile up Sunrise Mountain. We hated Sunrise Mountain because it never seemed to end. Very tricky. And we saw the first snow on the trail! Ugh! I hated that! Oh well, just deal with it and go on. After we reached the top of Sunrise Mountain it was 2-2.5 miles down to Sunrise Meadow where we camped. It is a "High Sierra" camp, which to us means bathrooms and bear lockers. It is a nice campsite, we are going to sleep now. My feet and back are very sore. Absolutely no appetite for me, John forced me to eat dinner and I almost cried because I felt like I was going to throw it up. Very dramatic and I don't understand this whole no appetite thing.
Sunrise Meadow, quite beautiful
Our campsite at Sunrise Meadow, see the snow in the back?
Additional notes: John is extremely supportive, encouraging and patient with me. He has been so wonderful. Also, to help me get up Sunrise Mountain I took another tip from Cheryl Strayed and did a self-help talk. It started with every time I stuck my trekking pole in the ground, I would think "I am brave...I am courageous...I am strong." Then I added some words from the book, The Help. "I am kind...I am smart...I am important." I repeated those six phrases in my head the entire way up the mountain. That may sound silly but it really helped me focus on something other than the pain and helped me get up that dang mountain.
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