Day 83 : Carson Pass

12th July 2013
Mile 1051 to mile 1081 : Sherrold Lake to Carson Pass
Mileage : 30

I realized after after posting it that my last entry doesn't talk about the subject in the title, so here goes. The mosquitoes appeared after Crabtree Meadows, and have been with us ever since, and were especially bad n the section between Tuolumne and Sonora Pass. Miraculously, they seem to have diminished in intensity since then, and for a while I didn't know why this should be, until Dr Slosh, about whom more will be said in a couple posts time, gave me an explanation. He said the predominant reason for the sudden drop off in mosquitoes was the change in geology. The central section of the Sierra Nevadas, through which we have been hiking for several weeks is almost entirely all gqranite, a hard and impermeable rock. This means water stays on, or close, to the surface, and given the layered nature granite, produces lots of swampy meadows which are perfect breeding grounds for the mosquitoes, in contrast, the mountains after Sonora are predominately volcanic, which being much more porous, does not allow for a great deal of surface water, and hence there are fewer mosquitoes. Mystery solved! Thankyou Dr Slosh. There are pros and cons of the change in rock, the pro being the lack of mosquitoes, and the cons being the sharper rocks, and the relative lack of water, although by now a 10 mile waterless stretch doesn't even appear on the radar of the days events. Today we managed 30 miles motivated primarily by th desire to do fewer tomorrow when we would get into South Lake Tahoe, and we ended up stopping just after Carson Pass. By the time we stopped the light was fading fast, and the temperature was dropping so we stopped at the first available spot. There was only enough space for 2 bedrolls, and given I was the last into camp, I had to set up on the trail itself. The only other time I have done this was during the first week where I spent a blustery night hugging the side of a cliff overlooking the stunning Anzo Borrego Desert Park, it seems like a lifetime ago thinking back to it.