Today was mostly a trail day. We were excited to reach Tuolumne and resupply on food!

It had been a windy night and the wind did not subside even as the sun came up. We quickly packed up our flapping tents and made our way down a short path to Gaylor lake, where we had breakfast. From there it was all easy downhill and 8 miles of walking to Tuolumne meadows.

A couple hours later we crossed Tioga Road (Hwy 120), the first road we'd seen in 4 days! People started appearing everywhere, hikers, backpackers, and horseback riders.

Since the trail was super easy here we split up to give each other some alone time. I enjoyed some solo contemplation while listening to the rushing river and occasional cars passing by on the road.

Around midday we reached Tuolumne Meadows and located the bear box we had placed our resupply food in 5 days ago.Upon opening the box, Emma and I were slightly disappointed at how little food we had packed. We'd underestimated the amount of food we'd eat, and if we kept going at the current pace, we likely wouldn't make it to Mammoth without going hungry.

Since the Tuolumne store was closed this season, we had to make a decision. I considered hitching into Lee Vining to buy some snacks there, but ultimately Isabel, who was better prepared, kindly offered me one of her dinners. We also decided to cut off a portion of the high route and go on the John Muir Trail for about 20 miles, in order to make it to Mammoth by Monday.

A little whle later, we put on our newly heavy bags and set off again. It was super slow and tiring for some reason. We walked halfway up Lyell Canyon until we found a camp spot at around 9000 ft. Several other groups had camped near us since Tuolumne's campground was closed and there was a four mile ban on camping from the meadows.It had been a change of pace from previous days, really low in elevation but we enjoyed a lot of mileage in each other's company. We took a dip in the chilly river before dinner!

Great Sierra Mine to Lyell Canyon - 15.3 mi and 955 ft gained.