Diary - Mile 1090.
Atmo smoke and magic meadows.
While in Mammoth, we found out Yosemite was burning. We would walk right on the outskirts of it, far enough not to see the fire, but close enough to smell it.
When I went to Sequoias, I smelled the big trees, and the scent reminded me of old, wooden, Lithuanian huts and the end of summer. Where I live, people would tidy up their gardens for the winter, burning weeds, dry leaves and twigs, and that scent, to me, meant the end of summer holidays and the beginning of school, rain puddles, sweaters and golden leaves.
We rolled over the Donohue Pass and into thick smoke, which added a cinematic effect to the forest, turned sun orange, and all of a sudden we had magic hour at 4 PM. I smelled that familiar scent again, and for a second there it transported me back home, to the beginning of fall, but now it also gained another memory, a slightly sadder one. Now I know that sequoias smell like years of wildfires that have burned around them. And even though atmo smoke looked nice in pictures, it came from thousands of acres of a beautiful park burning. It lingered with us on and off for a couple of days.
One hot day, we stopped for a break near a waterfall. Perfect spot for a bath. I was knee-deep in the water, when a man in a green Scottish quilt appeared. “There’s a fire, right on trail 3 miles away, the wind is blowing it this way, I wouldn’t stick around here if I were you,” he spilled and ran away.
We weren’t going to panic, but ok ok, I’m getting out of the water…by the time I hesitantly put my socks on (cause I can’t even see the smoke yet, why the rush), more people, who have turned around, came over, a helicopter flew over our heads and a ranger appeared on trail right beside us, so mysteriously, you could think he was dropped out of the heli, and the best thing was that the dude had a walkie broadcasting helicopter chat. He said they hoped to contain the fire by the evening, so we scrambled onto rocks higher up to watch the action. After about an hour of me eating trail mix like pop corn, watching a helicopter flying back and forth, dumping water on trees, the smoke seemed to have almost ceased, so I got down to finish my previously interrupted bathtime in the waterfall, cooked some dinner, talked to the ranger, who was still there, listening to heli chat, and the wildfire was put out. Thankfully this time we did not have to turn around and walk back. Lesson I’ve learned a while ago- if you have to make a fast decision, wait 10 min, and if you still have to make it- do it faster than you would have done it 10 min ago. 9 times out of 10, the problem would turn out not to be a problem at all. You’d waste more time undoing decisions that were done too fast.
“Are you going Northbound?” Asked the man who ran the shuttle at Kennedy Meadows North. “You’re in for a treat, the meadows are in full bloom,” and oh boy (“oh boy” is the best hot chocolate in Sweden, btw) he was right. Giant red paintbrush, Mariposa lily, Sulfur buckwheat, Prettyface, Blue flax, Lupine, all meadows were covered in colors, and smelled of flowers, and sounded of bees and streams. In the morning, mist would rise above rivers and lakes, and deer would graze steps away from you, not bothered by your presence at all. Marmots watched the deer from the rocks and chipmunks ran circles around us and tents hoping for some food. At night, the stars were so close and the milkyway so bright, if you lay on your back and had no trees in sight, it felt like you were in space.
The Sierra section is done now, the hills are getting smaller, there will be less lakes and more burn areas..probably more fires, and now that I’ve spent almost two days near lake Tahoe, wine tasting, watching The Minions, and many other totally compatible activities and foods, I’m ready to embrace the dirt again.
On to North Cal! I’m almost halfway. Woop woop.
