The Sonora Peak summit cairn. Much calmer up here than on my last visit to the peak.

360 degree panorama shot from the sonora summit. Full sized image is here and (as always) the component photos of the panorama are in a subalbum at the end of this album.

Inside the summit shelter, with a small sign and summit registry. Entires went back to ~2002. I looked briefly for my original entry but wasn't able to quickly locate it. I had spotted another hiker on the route about 15 minutes behind me, so I stopped for a bit and waited for him to summit.

Looking down at the St. Mary's Pass trailhead and 108 as it winds up towards Sonora Pass. Leavitt Peak is the high point on the horizen. Still a fair amount of snow in the Emigrant wilderness.

The other hiker (Mike from Oakland, who's pics are here) was bound for Stanislaus so I decided to tag along with him for some of the route. The trail leading north was mostly still snowbound, so we picked a route accross the snowfield and then along the ridge above.

Looking back at Sonora Peak (and the snowfield) from about midway to Stanislaus. This is where I turned back. (We were about 500 feet above the trail and neither the descent to the trail nor the ascent to the ridge looked particularly appealing) I stopped and took a 20 minute nap before starting to pick my way back towards the pass and Mike continued towards Stanislaus

I crossed below the snowfield on my return and had to cross the outlet stream of the small lakelet that had formed near its base. The sandy soil was quite saturated in places and an uncareful step could leave you shin deep in muck.

Ended up slightly above St Mary's pass and had to descend back down to pick up the trail. Passed a peak bound party with two large dogs near the Pass.

Telephoto shot of Stanislaus Peak before descending back through the pass. (Was hoping to spot Mike on the peak, but didn't see him) All downhill from here back to the car.