Back in the car, we cruised over Carson Pass, down through Markleeville, and up over Monitor Pass...a great drive...and headed down towards 395
Then it was up over Sonora Pass to the Sonora Peak trailhead. Thinking that we were a bit on the late side, and with the sun setting earlier every day, we threw our headlamps into our bags and worked quickly up the trail to St. Mary's Pass and then easy cross country up to Sonora Peak. It was a perfect fall day, with south facing slopes snow free and north facing slopes showing some of the white stuff. The view looking north:
And looking south down towards Sonora Pass and, in the distance, the peaks of Yosemite:
Looking in more detail we realized that not only could we pick out many of the peaks in the Yosemite high country, but we could also make out Banner and Ritter south of the park, at the far left of the photo above and blown up here...
Well, the sun was getting closer to the horizon, and we knew it would be getting cold quickly. Just down off the summit of Sonora Peak we sat down for a moment to enjoy the last sun on the peaks of Yosemite...
Shortly afterwards, as the sun approached the horizon, we realized that we were, by chance, in exactly the right place at the right time. We sat down again and watched the sun set over Mt Diablo, 130 miles west of us
As the sun disappeared, it got cold, and we moved quickly back to the trailhead, arriving at the car at the last light, and headed home. It was a good day!
