Since returning to the hostel, I’ve felt a powerful vortex around me, far stronger than any other, even Kennedy Meadows’. I absolutely had to get back to trail, it’s been calling me and now I think I know what people mean when they say that.

I spent the morning packing my bag, organizing my food in the bear can, and preparing to head back out. In the early afternoon, I finally picked up my bag and left the hostel. It felt quite strange leaving this place which has come to feel so much like home. The people there were all at different stages in their trip so I’ve had to peel away from them too.

I picked up one last town soda, and started walking out of Bishop. I walked for about 20 minutes, putting out my thumb whenever cars were coming up behind me. Pretty soon someone pulled over, they were heading up to the lake by the trailhead and offered a lift.

The drive up seemed to take no time at all, the driver and I chatted about other trails in Europe and dreams of hiking there someday. About half an hour out of town, I got dropped at the South Lake trailhead. The carpark was packed with people who were all enjoying a Saturday outdoors.

I walked for about an hour and a half, climbing past South Lake to reach Long Lake. All the while, dark clouds were brewing behind me over the mountains. I knew there was plenty of camping around so I kept an eye on the weather as I walked, in case it might force me to camp early.

Just as I reached Long Lake, and just after 5 pm, I noticed a change in the wind. The clouds behind me were black and I could hear thunder in the distance. I found a flat spot and very quickly pegged out my tent. Not even a minute after I got the poles up, the rain started falling and I heard rolling thunder directly overhead. Rain quickly turned to hail, and I was glad to be able to drop the inner of my tent. Under just the fly, I had a lot of room to spread out my stuff and wait out the weather. Just as soon as it started, everything stopper. With the weather clearing up, I was able to go outside once more to avoid cooking dinner under the fly.

I got my tent inner ready for bed just before another shorter rain spell passed through. It felt good to be warm and dry, protected from the elements by a thin piece of polyester.