Late for Dinner with Rick

The downhill was fast, but damaging to the knees. My right knee was damaged (temporary) somewhere coming down the switchbacks from the Half Dome rock. Then, my left knee also gave way half down the JMT. And from Vernal to Happy Isles, we had to slow down because of the stabbing pain in my knees. Surprisingly, Windy had no such knee problems, although her leg muscles had gotten quite sore. My guess is that it has to do with each person's "walking style." Interesting.

We had planned having dinner at 6:30 PM down at Curry Village with our neighbor, Rick. However, due to my knee delays, we didn't get back to camp until 8:00 PM. We were worried that Rick would panic and call the Search and Rescue team and set off a few Amber Alerts on us. But, luckily for...

... The French Couple
Not surprisingly, when we did get back to base camp, we discovered that Rick had actually made new international friends and had been graciously sipping down his exquisite fine California wine all night (with a raised pinky) with our French tent neighbors. What a pal.