Not sure why, but the sound of chatter just drives me insane when I'm really tired and want quiet time. My pillow kept deflating over night. Today was a good day and it ended with a long, tiring day. We did 21 miles but did two steep climbs before lunch. We crossed our two major fords and they weren't too bad. Only one of them went up to my butt. I think we started the sierras in the perfect time bc if we were here two weeks ago, the fords would've been even worse. By now, it seems like most of the snow has melted from the mountain tops. We also went through a long stretch of a mosquito swarm. They were all covering my head net and when I looked up at the sky, there were tons of them flying above. They are mainly bad in the meadows bc of all the mud. I hate mud. I seem to always make it across a steam dry and then accidentally step in deep mud, thus soaking my shoes.

I've been doing some thinking while I hike about what I want to do for my 30th bday. I usually just have a party somewhere and invite everyone I love since it's too hard for me to narrow it down. It's super easy and I don't have to coordinate much--just have everyone meet at a place. This year, since it's the big 3-0, I really would like to do like a cabin thing but it'll be too hard for me to only invite a few people and seems a little complicated with renting a place and having to pay for it. I also wanted to rent out a venue and do catering but I don't have money anymore. Last year, a couple of us hiked up to a snowshoe hut and spent the night. It was super fun. Now I'm thinking maybe I should just keep it small and do a little potluck dinner thing. So far, I've kept the guest list under 20 people, so that's not too bad. I just don't want people to have to pay for anything.

We hiked all the way to Dorothy lake to camp. On the way, I was totally running out of water but didn't want to get any bc if I stopped by a water source, I'd get swarmed. But finally succumbed to the last creek before the lake. I was starving and so thirsty. I was so glad to see a game and undercover set up. I had thought they might've went up to the pass which would be fine but my feet were hurting since I didn't break much today. This guy named first joined our campsite. He had just started his thru hike at t meadows. He told us that he is running out of food so we gave him some snacks since both of us usually carry more than we eat. It seems like it's going to be a cold night with lots of condensation.

Not sure what time I'll wake tomorrow since today was a long day but also not sure if we'll be doing Sonora pass. I can't get there till wed for my package so I'll have to play it by ear. Once we hit Dorothy lake pass, well be out of Yosemite. Yay! We were also talking about stocking up on audio for northern ca. We all know it's going to be the most mentally challenging section. I want to stock up on podcasts, sermons and even get an audible account I think.