2MoreMiles…

Day 81: (19.17 miles)
1052.5 – 1071.67

Today was the strangest day ever…to include a meltdown of sorts for me.  After putting in 20 miles yesterday, I was hoping for no 530 am alarm.

No such luck, but it did give us the opportunity to experience an awesome sunrise.  As we were up, so were enough mosquitoes to keep us (me) from lollygagging.  Initially the day started well and the trail was padded forest dirt morphing into gravel and later growing into rocks, then sand, then wet marshy, to gravel to rocks to dirt.

I think we experienced every type of terrain there was to include snow and slip shale.  There was no way to establish a rhythm for walking.  Today for some reason I also had balance issues, especially when I put my sunglasses on with progressive lenses.  I even slipped and landed flat on my keister, got a double soaker when both rocks I stepped on slipped out from underneath me as I attempted an “easy” rock hop across a creek crossing, and had just a generally bad hiking day as it pertains to general coordination which pretty much led to a bad attitude.  If it were not for Paul, I’m pretty sure I would have quit…if it was possible to do so without having to walk back to civilization.  Paul was a champ, putting up with (more like ignoring) my grumblings.  Even with the mishaps, the change in terrain was amazing. 

The beginning portion reminded us of Vasquez Rocks with the day ending in a Sonora Pass wind…trek, finally landing for the night at Lost Lake, which was quite appropriate.  What started with an awesome sunrise ended with an equally impressive sunset.  All is good.

Day 80: (20 miles)
mile 1032.5 – 1052.5

Nothing much to report with the exception that the trail was fairly easy on our feet, thus the 20 miles. 

We were hoping to hook up with our friend Jim who has a place in Markleyville, but we were unable to connect.  Our best guess was this was the week or so that Jim was on his own backpacking trip.  He is an avid backpacker and leant us two of his bear canister collection.  He is known for his gourmet cooking both on and off the trail.  He’s been known to hike in supply goodies and adult beverages (champagne, lapu lapus, beer) before his big trips to ensure he and his friends are living large regardless of where in the wilderness you are.  We rested at Hwy 4 for a bit…just in case for some reason he drove by (stranger things have happened) and then began our last part of the day adding a few more miles.  We settled on Upper Kinney Lake.

Day 79: (14 miles)
mile 1018.5 – 1032.5

Up later than we planned, we pack and head to breakfast.  We talk and laugh until we realize we really must be getting back on the trail.  During this time I am able to add and upload our last completed post which almost brings us up to date.  The long drive up to the pass begins.  It’s been a truly wonderful two days.  We are lucky to have such good friends.  Terry drops us off, we make our farewells and somewhat begrudgingly start back on the trail.  Our packs are fully loaded with five days of food.  We think we may have gone a little overboard and might be carrying more food than we need, seeing how hungry we were last week.  Day three of last week we could have eaten ALL the food in our barrel, we were so hungry, but didn’t as we knew we needed to cover two more days.  Any who, we start our trek…aka, vitamin and climb 800+ ft.  The trail is relatively easy and our packs almost feel comfortable. We note that in all the blogs that we have read over the years, no one really writes about this section.  As we walk, we understand why.  While the scenery is beautiful, it is not breathtaking visually nor physically…and there are still patches of snow covering portions of the trail.

We wonder if we will have anything to really share about this section.  By now our loyal readers you should realize we are not ones to leave you disappointed.  Everyday is truly an adventure for us with something to report.  And yes we had a royal screw up and unknowingly left our phone on a rock during a break.  Luckily we are old and slow and some young buck, Colin from Minnesota, saw our phone and picked it up, as he probably saw our fresh tracks and/or heard me swearing at having to trudge through more darn snow.  As we were trying to relocate the trail, which was obscured by, go figure, snow, Colin appeared from behind us and asked if we were missing a phone.  That’s when we realized, yup, we left it on the rock.  Crap! Forgot to do our usual double check again.  Geez, you do over a 1000 miles and start to get complacent.  We thanked Colin and took possession of our phone.  True trail magic that was. Later we broke for lunch. By chance I spied Colin not more than 50 ft ahead of us on the trail taking a break as well.  Paul dug through our supplies and grabbed some snickers bars and walked over to Colin. He thanked Colin once again for finding our phone and presented him with the snickers bars.  Colin said “thanks” and then told Paul it was his birthday.  Well Happy Birthday Colin!  We continued along the trail…uneventfully for the remainder of the day and camped for the night.

Day 77: (8.7 miles)

Well…the wind did NOT die down, but changed direction and began gusting stronger sometime while we slept.  Our water bottles that had been left outside were frozen.  This is summer?  We pull everything inside the tent and have enough water that is not frozen to make hot coffee. We eat our last morsel of food…Paul has oatmeal, I have a ProMeal bar. 

We put on all available layers of clothing, pack our packs as best we can before exiting the tent for it’s breakdown…in the gusting wind. Our temperature gauge reads 34 degrees.  With wind chill, we reckon it’s in the high teens or low 20’s.  Yippee!  By the time we start walking we are cold to our core.  Luckily our fingers are locked (frozen) in place around the handles of our trekking poles.  Onward, and not surprisingly, up we climb…vitamin time.

Apparently we are not done with the snow. Crap! I am really beginning to NOT like snow.  We are motivated by the cold and the promise of food and a hot jacuzzi dangles like a juicy carrot in front of our heads.  The climbing stops and the descent begins.  The only difference in the composition of the trail is its orientation to the sky…down.  When we make it to Hwy 108 we have no cell service and barely enough power to the Delorme to message Terry that we’re here, as he, we later find out has been detained by the military that are running “mountain war games” in the area.  This would explain the big black helicopters we’ve been seeing flying overhead the last two days.  When he arrives, he comes bearing gifts of enormous sandwiches, bags of chips and beer.  Does he know us, or what?  We decide to lunch at Kennedy Meadows north, just to see the place.  Once sufficiently nourished, down the pass we drive, not before Terry places blankets and towels on his cloth seats so as to protect them from acquiring our stench.  Terry has secured a two bedroom apartment of sorts for the next two nights.  We decide to multitask in order maximize our time Terry.  While laundry was soaking in the washing machine, we were soaking in the jacuzzi catching up with our friend.  Once both us and our laundry were sufficiently clean we made plans for dinner at Virginia’s, as their pizza came highly recommended.  The recommendation proved correct.  Then back to the apartment for an early night.

Day 78: Zero #17

We slept the morning away rising at 730, two hours later than our normal rising time.  We walked with Terry to the breakfast buffet and then toured Bridgeport on foot…it took 10 minutes.  Paul and I made appointments with the local (only) salon, Paul for a haircut and me for a little color to hide the grey (more like white) that all those darn passes caused.  Back at the apartment we went through the box of supplies Terry had picked up from our son who had collected the items we had requested from home…which included our passport cards that we had forgotten.  Once that was done, I furiously worked to catch up on our blog as Terry brought us up to date on all the happenings at home, and the world, whilst we’ve been frolicking in the outdoors.  Seems not much has changed, as the political theater continues, and people across the world continue to fight over really stupid things.  Once we were all gussied up, we completed our resupply shopping at the local market, that also included dinner for the night…a BBQ of New York cut steaks with baked potato, beans and corn.  Finally, fresh food, and even better company.  We talked till we couldn’t keep our eyes open and finally turned in for the night, knowing that we would awake to pack and set back out on the trail the next morning.

Day 74-76

Camping in a campground was unique.  We haven’t done this in awhile.  Another people watching opportunity.  Some were PCT hikers but most were JMTers.  The JMT and regular backpackers were easy to spot.  Big packs and most had campfires.  The next morning I watched a guy meticulously fold his tent taking care to wipe off all the dirt… after he had completed a 15 min stretching routine in long underwear, a puffy jacket and wool beanie with socks and tevas…obviously NOT a PCT thru-hiker. Our goal for the day was to do around 16 miles or so…take it easy and enjoy the scenery.  On go the packs.  They feel “light” for the 5 days of food we have crammed into our bear cans. 

The trail is relatively flat and easy on our feet as my feet are still getting used to my new shoes.  Today we see lots of deer…big bodied deer! 

The terrain turns from forest and meadow to large boulders and massive smooth rocks that the trail traverses over, meanwhile gentle flowing creeks morph into ragging whitewater rivers that  cascade into roaring waterfalls nearby.

 We are passed by at least three mule trains carrying an assortment of gear.  We are amazed at their calmness as their hooves clack against the cobblestone ramps built into the trail.  Their shoes over time leave a distinct rust stained  path that once you realize this makes the carins obsolete.  We stop at Glen Aulen for a break and soak our feet.  There is a work crew there getting ready for the summer visitors.  This was the mule train’s destination.  The summer season is upon us.  We climb a bit and land in a long and vast meadow. 

Boulders the size of houses that have broken free from the towering cliffs above rest on the edges of the meadow.  We feel small…ant like.  There is a reverence to it all.  God done good.  How is it that this place is not swarming with people?  It is more than a must see for yourself place.  It is a must experience place…minus those damn mosquitoes.  Frickn yin and yang balance crap.  So much for zen.  It’s like when you’re grooving to your favorite song, and static or the needle on the record scratches across it (yes I’m severely dating myself), and BAM out of the pleasant “trance” you were in.  Someone remind us of the purpose of mosquitoes besides spreading disease.  Okay back to the scenery. 

It is evident that several parallel paths are worn into the meadow floor.  Each with varying depths, but all headed in the same direction eventually converging back into one well worn trail.  We make our mileage destination which sets us up for a morning uphill climb.  We have learned that its better to make the climbs in the morning with fresh legs and near freezing temps.  The climb then has a duel purpose.  One to gain needed elevation/mileage, and two, to climb ourselves warm.

Day 75: (16 miles)

Up we climb as our ice cold fingers draped in not nearly warm enough gloves clutch our trekking poles and push us up the narrow damp trail.  Snow is melting and water is seeping from and onto the trail often making for a muddy slippery mess of a trail. 

Up we climb over rocks and steps hewn from granite slabs that cradle the trail.  As with all aspects of the PCT…what goes up, must come down.  This the elevation gain is transfered to a similarly steep descent complete with uneven granite steps and scattered puddles of mud and water for better concentration.  Its like running down bleachers with cleats on with water balloons placed strategically on the bleachers, of which you have to dodge…or destroy your knee(s) and/or crash and burn.  Lots of fun.  By the end of the day my knees are shot.  I am cursing the trail builder as he (yes he had to be a he) must have been 6’4″, hated horses (not sure how 4 legs navigated some of the narrow switchbacks and steep/deep steps), and anyone with knee issues.  We did however admire his direct approach to getting up and over mountains.  There was no wandering for the sake of exposing one to the sights here.  Even the NPS Ranger we ran into thought it was a crappy trail.  The NPS Ranger was “patrolling” her area with full backpack up the trail checking permits, bear canister compliance and promoting the principle of “pack it in…pack it out”.  We talked and joked with her for awhile sharing Park Service  type stories and went on our way.  We make it to the valley floor that house Benson Lake and discover trees with near gigantic circumferences that reach skyward, so high that when you tilt your head up to scan for the top of the trees you have to catch yourself from falling over backwards.

We camped on a ” bench” above Benson lake outwitting our blood sucking nemesis that swarmed below in the dense forest floor.

Day 76: (18 miles)

As usual the morning starts with a climb.  Thinking of renaming them “vitamins”. 

The trail weaves up, down,through, in and out of forests and boulders. Dirt lined and boulder strewn.

Today we will have hiked over 1000 miles. As Joe Biden would say…” This is a big F’n deal!”

Also, we want to get closer to Hwy 108/Sonora Pass where our friend Terry will pick us up and take us to Bridgeport for resupply and a zero day. Most of the trail is forest trail and parallels a river. It’s a pleasant walk.  We begin to notice tall canyon rock walls soar high on both sides as we gradually climb. This we discover is the calm before the storm as we still need to get over Sonora pass. Do we clear the pass or lay up for tomorrow? We won’t be to the pass till late afternoon and make that decision when we arrive. The weather is good with a light wind.  It’s 4:30pm, plenty of daylight… let’s go for it. Up we go. We can see the switchbacks and they are steep and long.

We take a “shortcut” and skip the long switchbacks for the direct route practically straight up the side of the mountain.  After so much huffing and puffing we cross a huge snow patch and look over the ridge. Whoosh! In our face is a 30+ mph wind that is biting  cold. We have flashbacks to our ascent of Baden-Powell and Tehachapi. We drop our packs and suit up with jackets, gloves, and hats. The terrain is sloped and treeless.

We want to find a camp site but this won’t be for some time. We can see the trail for  at least two miles and have to get down the trail before we can camp.  We reached some trees with “flat” areas to camp where the trees will block some if not most of the chill wind. Hoping the wind will die, we camp near 11,000 ft.  We are under no illusion that this will be anything but a cold night… Brrrrrrr. Thank goodness we are not cowboy camping!

Day 73: (8.7 miles)
mile 934 – 942.7

We wake to no rain or wet tent. Cool.  The flying piranhas however are up early as well.  We pack quickly, throw down our coffee and a pop tart and treat our eyes and feet to a splendid walk through cinematic terrain.

It’s like being in a 3-D movie.  The experience touches all senses.  You are compelled to stop and stare to take it all in, but realize the act would be futile as there is just too much.  It’s almost overwhelming.  I walk as slowly as I dare for Paul is jonesing for cheese burger, and has seen this territory with our son last fall. 

I on the other hand and marking places in my head that I want to return to explore and fish. Paul catches on and tells me that for sure we will come back.  I pick up the pace.  We pass many an overladen JMT hiker, sporting a dangling fry pan, who smells and looks too good to have been on the trail very long.  Some we talk with, others we just nod to as we step off the trail and allow each other to pass in the opposite direction.  As we get closer to the trailhead and our destination, we see more day hikers in REI regalia sporting colorful nalgene bottles and floppy hats.  Finally we reach the Tuolumne Meadows store and post office.  The post office is temporarily closed as they are cataloging and sorting a shipment of new packages for PCT and JMT hikers, over 78 to add to the nearly 100 already onsite.  No biggie.  That gives us time for a cheeseburger and a few Golden Trout beers. After we eat we enjoy an hour or so of people watching.  Absolutely fascinating… better than the airport.  We make up stories of where they’re from and their outdoor experience. We take note of what they buy from the store.  Finally time to pick up our package.  Now we are being watched as we unpack and sort through our box.  Having taken a look at myself in the mirror of the bathroom after washing my hands before burger time, I realize that I look and smell like a crazed homeless woman.  Paul is not much better, so we must have been a sight to watch as well.  We find a card and special jerky as early congrats for 1000 miles from our friend Jody. 

Our daughter is quite creative...toilet paper

A snack from our son (which we immediately devoured), and a homemade Father’s Day card and powdered peanut butter from our daughter.  It’s like Christmas… again.  We sort through our goods.  Some items are thrown into the hiker box and the rest we cram into our bear canisters we love so much.  We trudge up to the campground to the backpacker section and stake our claim.  The afternoon is warm and it’s time for a nap.  We set up and are drooling on our mats in no time.  We wake to a racket of loud banter and the distinct laughter of…Arizona!  He and Hemlock walk towards us, searching for where to make camp.  We have a loud and boisterous reunion.  We catch up and share/compare stories.  We share dinner and conversation late into the evening.  We yogi power to recharge our phones and spare batteries from the camp host.  We share our plans for the next several weeks and expect our paths will cross again. Arizona is going to slack pack (hike a distance w/o his full pack) from Tuolumne to Curry village and the Yosemite Valley floor and Hemlock wants a shower and to do some laundry.  We however, will get a move on in the morning on our way to mile 1000+. 

Day 69: (18 miles)
Day 70: (Zero #17)

It’s Mammoth day! It’s Mammoth day!  One more day of unpleasant toes!  Better yet, cell service!  We call our kids and catch up.  Our son tells us a as friend of ours from home is in Mammoth and might be able to meet us.  Yeah!  No hitch required.  We also hit 900 miles today.  It just so happened that a couple was passing by when we got to the 900 mark and offered to take our picture, as it is rare to have photographic evidence of us two actually in the same place.  Funny though, they asked us what the significance of 900 was.  Hmmm.  It was all Paul could do not to say, ‘oh nothing really, just the number of bodies we’ve stashed on the trail’, but he politely explained the PCT and the miles we’ve walked and still have to go.  Silly JMT’ers.  Since the shuttle isn’t yet running from Reds Meadows into Mammoth we decide to take the Horseshoe Lake trail into Mammoth.  Reds Meadows would have been so much shorter and easier on our seriously unpleasant feet as our shoes still feel too small (short).  We are in luck, for just as we are walking down into the parking lot at Horseshoe Lake the phone rings, it’s Dan.  “Where are you guys?”  Just coming into the lot now we tell him. “Cool”, he responds. Dan greets us and says, “not sure if you wanted one, but I thought I’d bring you each a beer…just in case”. Church music plays in our heads…angels sing. The pain of/in the feet goes away immediately… or at least dissipates enough not to care at the moment.  We are unsure on where we want to Zero, but we definitely want a place with a jacuzzi so we can soak our tired bodies.  Dan suggests the Sierra Nevada Resort and Spa…little pricey, but we don’t care as they have what we want and everything is in walking or shuttle distance.  The best part is even though our room wasn’t ready, they allowed us to soak in the jacuzzi (12 foot diameter) till it was ready. Must have been an interesting sight to see two stinky hikers walk onto the pool deck, drop their backpacks and strip down to skivvies and plop themselves in the jacuzzi and soak.  Finally Clean!

Day 70:  We sleep in…till 7 am. Paul gets up and gets the laundry done. I’m trying to catch up on emails and our blog.  Once laundry is done we hobble over to breakfast and then to the outfitters for new footwear.  Paul decides he’s gonna try ” trail runner” type shoes as they are lighter and more breathable and settles on Brooks Cascades (orange), and because they didn’t have he right size or selection of Salomon footwear, I get a pair of Merrill’s.  They are lighter and more breathable as well but are low cut which is a little unsettling for me as I am not very nimble on my feet.  Not my first choice, and they take a bit to break in as opposed to my Salomon’s, but my Crocs won’t get me very far, and my current boots are just too small.  We check with the post office on the off chance that our resupply package that was supposed to have been at Lake Isabella got forwarded to Mammoth.  This will allow us to not have to shop for food.  We’re in luck AGAIN!  The mangled box arrived, but no fishing pole or reel from my friend Donna (aka. Sister Mary Smart Ass).  Turns out the zip code she was given from her post office was incorrect and they got sent to Fresno instead. Crap!  Although we’ve been seeing lots of brook trout we really haven’t seen any of “good size” and in actuality we don’t have enough time in the day to spend time fishing.  We are however taking note of locations that we might go back to and spend some time…fishing.

Day 71: Agnew Meadows… ish (4 miles)
mile 914 – 918

We while away most of the day on the front porch of the Sierra Nevada Resort doing our best to catch up with our blog, get current with bills and our kids.  Finally it’s time to get back at the trail.  Paul has talked to one of the Mammoth trolley drivers who says he can get us up to Agnew Meadows as nothing is going into Reds.  We hop on the trolley with foot long Subway sandwiches for our dinner only to discover he was incorrect.  The driver apologies profusely and gets us to another bus line that at least will get us “closer” to where we need to go.  No worries as it’s all part of the adventure.  Hiccups like this are trivial in comparison to actual life threatening situations.  The other bus’s “end of the line” is at the Mammoth Ski area main lodge/store which is now converted for mountain bikers.  We are told we should have no problem getting a hitch from here and he’s right. In less than 2 minutes we yogi a ride from Loraina (sp?) who’s kids have just cleared out their school and ski mountain lockers.  As they are locals, she jettisons her kids (teenagers) to the bus and offers to give us a ride to Agnew Meadows.  She is excited because her oldest daughter (who’s getting her haircut and not in the van) will graduate from high school next year and wants to hike the PCT after graduation, and she wants to do it with her mom…Loraina.  Loraina peppers us with questions, and conversation flows freely.  We are excited for her and her daughter and tell her they should definitely do it.  It will be a great adventure for the two of them and a serious bonding event.  We give her our card so they can follow our blog and learn from our adventures (mis and otherwise) and thus prepare for theirs.  We get to Agnew Meadows and the moment we step out of the car we are swarmed and attacked by what Paul now calls “flying Piranhas”.  Crap. Now we know what we forgot to get.  Not that we only had it in our hands no less than three times, but never actually purchased.  Deet!  Loraina offers to run us back into town to purchase some bug spray (we had been using a small spray bottle of Ben’s 30% feet and had run out).  We initially balk at putting Loraina out any further…she did make her kids ride the bus, but we (I) do not relish the idea having blood sucked out of me for another 100 plus miles by little nasty ear buzzing C02 chasing insects.  We have head nets but they are annoying and we prefer to walk in shorts.  Back into the van we climb.  First stop is the gear store at the lodge.  Yes they have mosquito spray, but not in a thru-hiker size container, but more like the size of some of the ridiculous bear spray canisters we’ve seen some people carrying.  As we don’t want Loraina to have to drive any further, we purchase the mega canister (which we later discover is the best purchase EVER).  Loraina drops us again at Agnew’s and we thank her profusely for her kindness and tell her that when she and her daughter hike the PCT we’ll be sure to return the magic. The sign at Agnew Meadows says, ” No Camping at Trail head “.  We have at least two hours of daylight left, and even though we have bug spray, we’d rather not have to “tolerate” the flying piranhas till it cools off so we start up the trail and decide to walk till we find a good campsite.  Four miles or so later…uphill, we find a spot and set up camp.  As we set up, we see the back of a fawn colored fury animal walk through the trees 50 yards uphill from us.  Hmmm, Cougar or Coyote?  We heard there is a “cat” in the area that had been taking out some young cattle and wonder if this is part of its 100+ mile range.  We continue to look for the animal as its last “track” was downward toward us.  All of the sudden it appears less than 10 yards from us.  We both jump…I directly behind Paul. Phew, it’s only a coyote.  He looks at us.  He’s a bit mangy…not good.  We yell at him.  He looks like he’s pondering a decision.  Paul decides to help him with it’s decision, picks up a couple of rocks and motivates the mangy coyote to move on.  We watch to make sure it doesn’t circle back around.  Territory defended. Check.  Now for our sandwich and bed.

View from our campsite

Donahue Pass
Day 72: (16 miles)
mile 918 – 934

Today’s big challenge will be to get over Donahue Pass 11,005 ft. Paul climbed this pass last year with our son and said, “It’s not that bad”.  We tread upon a beautiful soft forest trail for most of the morning.  We pass the most picturesque scenery as we make our way past 1000 Island Lake. 

The only thing that's missing is a giant buck and a fish jumping

1000 Island Lake

After lunch we began a slow climb along a river between large boulders. The higher we climbed the less trees there were.

Finally the trees end and there are nothing but boulders and large peaks ahead. Paul assures me its up to the left and up we go. We climbed over rocks, boulders, and slabs as the trail weaved up to the pass. As we crested the top we could see Lyell Canyon (actually a green valley) and the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne river. Beautiful!!! Down in the valley is where we will camp.

Looking back at where we came from Donahue

We descend down into the valley, crossing several waterfalls and creeks, and a small lake…some with shoes on, some without.

Down at the river we cross to the other side and look for a campsite…aka a 5ftx5ft flat piece of dirt.  Before this endeavor however we must douse our arms and legs with bug spray. These flying terrorist have declared jihad on hikers. We found a good camp site and settled in. Tonight the sky looks like, and the air smells like rain with large grey clouds overhead. I guess we’ll see how our tent does in the rain…if it does end up actually raining.  Often in the Sierras, it tends to threaten to rain then doesn’t…which is okay with us. Tomorrow we will further descend into Lyell Canyon and head to the Tuolumne Meadows store to pick up a resupply box and and a cheese burger. YUM!

Boat ride back to the trail

Day 68: (14 miles)

Slept in a bit…food coma again, but still up and packed in time to score breakfast and a boat ride back (actually nearer) to the trail that will intersect with the PCT.  The harder and faster we walk, the sooner to Mammoth.  We’re jonesing for a real bed, a shower (if not a jacuzzi) and new shoes.  Mileage today was fairly uneventful… Unless you count being caught in a thunder/lightning storm just as we came over Silver Pass…we have all the luck! 

Uh oh...look what we're walking into

It wasn’t too bad, in that the lightning was never that close and we really didn’t get wet, namely because it hailed tiny snow balls on us for about an hour as we worked our way down into the tree line.  We passed several JMT hikers on their way to VVR and finally camped at Lake Virginia.  Both our feet were screaming…especially our toes.  Awesome campsite out of the wind, but hard to get a good night’s sleep with the constant chorus of frogs, and believe it or not a bird or two, throughout the night.

Day 67: (14 miles)

Up and motivated to get to non rehydrated food we grab a power bar and hit the trail.  The only problem is that we had no idea we would have 3 stream crossings all before 630am.  Thus was the coldest our feet have ever been.  Even colder than wearing frozen boots.  Granted, each crossing only took 20 sec but these were about 50 yard apart, thus no point putting the boots back on till we were done.  It was as if our feet had been flash frozen.  I actually thought Paul was going to cry his feet hurt so bad.  It took nearly 20 minutes to regain feeling in our feet and they still weren’t warm, or comfortable for that matter.  Bear in mind that our boots over the last 60 miles or so have  felt like they were getting smaller and smaller, especially on the downhill portions of the trail, so now add frozen toes

Alternate route to VVR

and a 8.7 mile alternate Bear Creek Trail (all downhill) into VVR cause we were too late for the ferry, and we were two super happy campers…nothing beer and a big fat cheeseburger can’t fix though. 

Edison Lake dam

When we finally made it to the dam (that’s where the alternate trail ends) we lucked out. Paul saw an older man walking along the dam and went over to talk or more like yogi us a ride. “Dam hot wouldn’t you say?” Nothing like being obvious! The man chuckles and the conversation begins. After a few minutes of talk about the lake and the trail Paul tells the man that we are going to the resort for a cold beer. The man replies that he has cold beer half way to the resort. Paul tells him “we will follow you”. When we arrive at man’s campsite he makes good on his word and we enjoy a cold beer with his two camp mates as well. After some entertaining and enjoyable conversation with the three older men we said good bye and start to hike the last mile. We hadn’t gone far when two fishermen picked us up and drove us the rest of the way. This was great because we had just started talking about what kind of food we wanted to eat. This resort is not very fancy like some resorts like you’d see at Zion or at Yellow Stone, but it is very hiker friendly and has good resupply food. The first thing to happen when you walk in, is that you are given a free drink of choice: beer,soda, or water.   We chose beer.  Go figure.  The cafe food was excellent and served in hiker proportion (x-large).  There was an opportunity for a shower and laundry (at a price) but we decided to wait till Mammoth.  We gorged on a hubcap sized bacon cheeseburger with fries and washed it down with our beer…and a shake.  While eating we struck up a conversation with two JMT hikers who where dining and resupplying at VVR.  We traded a few stories and our resupply plans. Turns out they thought they might have sent too much food, to which we offered to relieve them of their overage.  This worked out well for both of us. Their food was put to good use, and we didn’t have to buy any to get us to Mammoth.  We thanked them for their generosity and then set up our tent.  Serious food coma coming on.  After a much needed nap, it was time for dinner.  Not that we were all that hungry yet, but near gourmet food in the middle of practically nowhere, how can a hiker pass that up? 

Easy A, Katie and Paul

At dinner we met “Easy A” who is in real life, a cantaloupe breeder.  Ya, we thought the same thing…a what? Not sure how you get cantaloupes to “breed” but I guess it’s a good job/skill to have as when Easy A told his boss he was going to quit to hike the PCT, they told him he didn’t need to quit, they would give him the time off, as long as he came back within 6 months.  Deal!  We also met BamBam and his hound dog Huckleberry (sorry no picture).  Later everyone sat around the fire and chatted till way past hiker midnight.