Thousand Island Lake and Donahue Pass - Mile 937 - 7/13

I got off to an average start this morning to tackle the rest of the uphill towards Thousand Island Lake. I was excited because after looking at the lake from the topographic maps I saw that it was going to be something quite scenic.

I arrived up at the lake and scenic it was. The lake had partitioned islands throughout with the sharp peak of Mount Ritter in the background. I stopped for quite a while and ate, taking in all the view. Heading up past the lake I ran into Bouncer, a middle-aged guy I've hiked around for quite some time who slept by the lake last night. He said he was kept awake by a bear for most of the night. Bouncer had also hiked this area previously so he told me all about the areas history and how John Muir was the first person to summit Mt. Ritter. It's nice to get outside information about an area every once in a while instead of the usual trail info like the elevation, the mileage, and the closest water source. Actually getting background information makes it easier to remember certain places like this and I appreciate the place more. Donahue Pass was a potentially sketchy situation because for the first time in probably the whole trip thunder was shaking in the background and the dark clouds were rolling in. After lunch it started to drizzle and that was plenty motivation to get moving. As I was going up, the pass had a clearing of clouds and up an over I went. I went down till dark and found a place to sleep for the night. Tuolumne Meadows tomorrow and the Whoa Nellie Deli which I have been looking forward to for hundreds of miles!