June 25:Bridgeport,CA

We expected to wake up chilly on our high-altitude ridge, and yet the morning dawned bright and warmer than most of our mornings at lower elevations. We resumed our ridge walk up to the "highest point after Donahue Pass" at 10,880 ft and continued over two more ridge crests with spectacular morning views of the peaks and valleys below. Eventually we decended through some snow fields as the trail wound us down to Sonora Pass, where a road awaited us and we would head into town. We had just spent the last few weeks climbing up and over passes, so it was a wierd feeling to descend to a pass (it was also a lot less work!).

Since we don't cook while on the trail, we drink protein shakes each day as part of our diet. Instead of preparing them all ahead of time, we sent bulk supplies to three places along the trail, Bridgeport being one of them, so we knew we would spend a day there making shakes and sending them ahead on the trail.

The hitch to Bridgeport is supposed to be somewhat tricky because you have to take two roads to get there, but we lucked out. There is a guy who is supporting several other hikers by meeting them at roads and getting them to towns, keeping stuff in his van for them, etc. When he's waiting for them to show up he often gives rides to other hikers as well. So he gave us a lift into Bridgeport, which is a 50 mile round-trip for him. We happily gave him some gas money for his generosity (and because gas here is $5.29/gal. Yikes!).

We grabbed some food and got a room at the Victorian Inn, a hundred-year old hotel that was one of the cheapest in town (also very basic, but decorated with a Victorian flair). We did the normal grocery and PO runs before grabbing a pizza and settling in for the night.

Total Miles:1018.3
Miles Today:5.8
Camp 59:Bridgeport Victorian Inn

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