Last night I headed out of my room and spotted a familiar figure heading to the laundromat - Ooops! So I met up with him and discovered he came in to town to get a pair of crampons to fit his new bigger shoes and get out of the bad weather. Wind gusts and cold had replaced the previous mild weather, and he was glad he was here. I devoured a pint of raspberry sorbet and he chowed down on pizza we compared notes and got caught up on the trail news. He had gotten in to Horseshoe Meadows early in the day but walked 8 miles before getting a hitch. He was rooming at the hostel with Roberto, a hiker from Italy. He'd already purchased his crampons and was planning to head out in the morning. The next morning we had breakfast together and struck up a conversation with the only 2 people in the restaurant.
Mel and Dave graciously offered to take us back to the trailhead so by 830 we were both back on the trail. Thank you both for your kindness.
The weather was cold but the wind had died down and the forecast looked perfect for the next couple of days. Ooops came to Horseshoe Meadows on a different trail than me so we split up not knowing if we' d cross paths again. Seems I am destined to hike the Sierras alone.
Along the trail I stopped to snap a few pics and met Roberto- the hiker from Italy.
Picture of a picture of Roberto
He travels the world hiking 5-6 months of the year. We chatted as we hiked and I mentally made a list of all the other places I now decided I must hike based on Roberto's stories. He is middle aged, from Florence/Tuscany area of Italy but lives and works in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites, close to the Austria border. As we reached the top of Cottonwood Pass we stopped to admire the view and a hiker came up the trail toward us --
Double Zero!!
He was racing against time to get to his section hike destination and the recent bad weather made his goal seem impossible but his determination won out and he made it. We could never have coordinated such a farewell but as fate would have it I was glad to be here to celebrate his victory.
Speaking of fate, 30 minutes later as we merged with another trail Roberto and I spotted Ooops. So the 3 of us headed to Lower Rock Creek to camp for the night.
Lower Rock Creek
Heart
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