~6mi 1 way Route for the day leading from the Kennedy Meadow resort at the top of the map. Took the west route on the way out, the standard east route on the way back.

Slept in the Outback at the Chipmunk Flat campground below nightcap peak. I had a couple of options in mind for today, among them being Sonora/Stanislaus peaks. I couldn't find the St. Mary's Pass trailhead under the snow, so I headed back down to Kennedy Meadows. (None of this has anything to do with the picture, which is of Nightcap peak at sunrise)

The middle fork of the Stanislaus river was just about ready to overflow its banks in the morning.

Another shot of the Stanislaus as it passed by the Kennedy Meadows resort road. Noone fishing this morning, but there would be a number of fly fishers out in the afternoon when I returned.

Kennedy Meadows was a soggy mess, and the road had a number of puddles and creeklets to navigate. Noone was home at the campsites at the back end of the resort.

The first footbridge spanning the raging waters of summit creek. I decided to take the alternate western route up to the reservoir this morning, since I had been on the main route a half dozen times and never taken the western route. (Turn right after the footbridge, ignoring the "trail" sign. This trail appears on the current USGS map, not the newer main trail along the creek.)

The western route was less sandy than the main trail, and was slightly longer and had more elevation gain. The first section headed downhill before turning up a side canyon.

An impressive 20ft waterfall a bit off the trail to the right. There was a nice mist rainbow that didn't come out in the picture.

The first patches of snow started showing up around 7000ft (gradually leading up to solid snow cover around 8k)