Alpine Meadows - Rt 40 7/24/10 19 miles

Woke up to a dreary sky. Kristi said it was going to rain, but I didn't believe her. "Walking Flower" walked up as we were packing up. We chatted for a moment. WE walked about 7 miles before our first break. It felt good to get some miles out of the way early. We talked about our plans for Bend, OR, for when we complete the hike. WE continued on and got across our first ridge right as it began thundering. I sat down to smoke a cigarette before it started raining and it began. Our first rain in 40 days on the trail. It sucked, but was kind of exciting. It only lasted for about an hour but there was a good bit of thundering and lightning to go with it. It stopped right as we got to our lunch spot on the creek. "Walking Flower" was there along with a bunch of day hikers. We ate our lunch and were finishing up as about eight more day hikers walked up. They asked us if we were thru hiking. We said yes, and as usual they started pulling food from their packs. We were caught totally off guard. Roast beer and roasted bell pepper sandwich, cantaloupe, cherries and a whole cucumber. We were So thankful. We took a little nap to let our food settle. Kiwi walked up right as we were getting ready to go. We talked and then headed up to Tinker and Anderson Peaks. The trail angels had told us of a nice hut on the backside of Anderson. I was excited. I miss the shelters on the AT so much. WE found it and took a break there. It was a ski hut with six bunks, a loft, a wood stove, rock floors and windows. It was beautiful. We continued on the rest of o9ur day and crossed our 500 mile mark!! Set up camp at a ski slope and are looking to get some breakfast at the store down the hill. It was a nice relaxing day topped off by a nice sunset. -CM