Getting from Mammoth Lakes was an ordeal to say the least. We spent two nights in town trying to figure out travel arrangements. As it turns out there is no easy and inexpensive way out of this town. Our original thought was to take a plane out of Las Vegas. Flights are cheap and neither of us have ever been there so it seemed like a great idea. Vegas is only 6 hours from Mammoth Lakes so we figured it would be an easy bus ride. Wrong. 30+ hours on a bus with no direct route. Then we were going to rent a car. No love. No rentals that we could take out of state. So we found the next cheapest airport in Fresno, committed to it and then figured out a way to get there. It took us two buses, a train and a taxi to get to the airport in Fresno. We showed up just in time for them to turn the lights off and we settled down for a fun nights sleep on the floor. Our plane left at 7AM the next morning and we were on our way. Flying isn’t the easiest on me and I felt pretty sick the whole way to Denver and then again on the way back to Detroit. Hannah’s mom and some friends met us at the airport and like that the adventure was over. Seems odd to have gone from on trail to at home over the course of a week but it feels really good to be home.
Day 56 Red’s Meadow
13.6 miles
Last day of hiking for a while. We slept in again and meandered our way toward Red’s Meadow. I honestly don’t remember much of the trail. My head was in the clouds the whole time. It all went by pretty fast and we were back into civilization before I knew what was going on. We caught the shuttle bus down to the ski hill and then hitch hiked into town. It feels weird to not be a thru hiker anymore.
Day 55 Above Purple Lake
14 miles
Happy 4th of July! Slept in again this morning. We are still trying to avoid the holiday rush in town so we don’t have far to go today and we could just take our time. The hiking was beautiful with lots of lakes a few easy climbs. It was a pretty uneventful day. We just played around and really enjoyed just hanging out together. I was going to go swimming in one of the alpine lakes but I lost my nerve because it was so cold. I have been in some cold water before but this might just take the cake. We stopped and ate at Lake Elizabeth and thought about staying there as it was so beautiful but there was still some daylight and we really hadn’t gone very far so we moved on. We ran into the JMT hikers we had met in Lone Pine on their way north. It was nice to see some familiar faces. The sun started to set and it seemed like we ran out of flat ground to camp on. I feel a little bad about passing up a few of the amazing campsites we saw earlier in the day and ending up with the nondescript turd we are at but oh well. Tomorrow is our last day on trail. I am excited to be heading home and I have no doubts it is the right decision for us but I will miss the trail life. I really feel at home living out of my backpack and it really muddies things up when I have a houseful of stuff.
Day 54 Near Mono Pass Trail
3 miles
Less than 20 minutes after I went to bed last night Hannah climbed into the tent with me. It had taken her about 8 hours to drive to Vermilion Valley Resort but she found it in the middle of the night. I slept so well having her back by my side. By the time we got out of bed the sun was already high and people were getting ready to catch the first ferry out. We ate breakfast with Balls and Baby Steps and said good bye to both of them. Baby Steps headed north and Balls took his car and headed home. We spent most of the day relaxing around the resort, catching up on each others new stories and resting up from the long night. When the last ferry was leaving we got on and headed back to the trail. As we hiked we started talking about what we wanted to get out of this trip and if it was fulfilling those goals. We both had different expectations and desires but we both found that we weren’t gaining what we wanted from this. For different reasons we decided that the suffering it takes to complete a trip like this wasn’t worth the limited benefits so we decided to that we would go home. The next step was to figure out how to get there. We don’t want to go into Mammoth Lakes tomorrow because it will be the fourth of July and we don’t want to deal with holiday prices and crowds. After a few miles we set up camp and ate some dinner. It is nice to be back with Hannah and I feel a little antsy about our traveling home.
Day 53 Vermillion Valley Resort
21 miles
Today was one of the strangest days I have had in a long time. It was a roller coaster of excitement and disappointment. It all started well with the usual morning. I turned off the alarm but still got up early. John and I rolled out of camp to some pretty generic trail with a big climb through the trees and not much for views. We saw a blue grouse doing its mating dance and call a few feet from the trail. We crossed the last real pass of the trip through Wright Pass. It didn’t even compare to the last five passes. It barely registered that we were going through a pass. There was almost no snow and the climb was almost unnoticeable. From there it was a pretty straight forward day with only one more obstacle: the dreaded Bear Creek Crossing! It was another creak that people had been shitting bricks about since Mexico but this time I didn’t allow myself to get drawn in and, sure enough, it was no big deal. It was the toughest crossing so far but that doesn’t make it a man killer. It was running about waist deep but the current wasn’t strong enough to know me down. I got to the other side full of joy because all of the hard stuff of the High Sierra was behind me and Hannah could be waiting anywhere in the next few miles. We met up with another thru hiker, Balls, and were flying down the trail. He was moving really fast, doing big chunks of trail then returning home to Oregon for a while to work and be with his family. Every corner we rounded I expected to see Hannah walking the other way but was always disappointed. After a few miles we ran into a hiker I had met in the desert name the Stumbling Norwegian. He was heading southbound on the John Muir Trail. He said he hadn’t seen her and my heart just sank. First I was really bummed that I wouldn’t get to see her after working so hard to get to her fast, and then I got worried that something happened to her. The Norwegian told me about a spot a few miles up the trail where I could get cell phone reception and I was gone before he finished his sentenced. I flew over the miles hiking as hard and fast as I ever have. I got to the ridge in no time to find a plethora of voicemails waiting for me. After listening to about ten messages I was able to discern that Hannah was safe but she hadn’t left town due to a hangup with our bank account and the auto pay on our bills. I felt better about her situation but was still bummed that I wouldn’t get to see her. I said goodbye to John because he was heading into Vermillion Valley Resort (VVR) where he had a package waiting for him and I was just going to push hard to get to Mammoth Lakes to meet hannah. It was at this point that the day turned weird. Balls told us he wasn’t feeling well and was worried about getting into town in time to get home for work. He asked if Hannah would take his car and drive it to VVR to meet him so he didn’t have to go as far today. It sounded like a great idea. Hannah agreed without question and she headed off to pick up his car and head our way. Unfortunatley none of us knew that VVR was on the other side of the Sierra Nevada and it was a seven hour drive to get there and it was in the middle of no where on some little traveled back roads. Balls and I hiked the remaining five miles to VVR as fast as we could to catch the ferry. It was a long, steep descent and I was pretty sore by the time I got to the ferry dock. We met back up with Baby Steps and waited for the resort to send the pontoon boat they use as a ferry over. It was a short ride across the reservoir and in no time we were landing at the resort. It was kind of a weird place. It was kind like a shanty town but with really friendly people and a great atmosphere. We ate dinner and had a few beers at the little store and settled in around the fire. There were a few JMT hikers there and a few other guests at the resort. It was nice to sit around and talk to people. After a few hours everyone drifted off to bed but I was determined to be awake when Hannah showed up so I stayed by the fire. I sat there for hours thinking about the trip. I was thinking about what I am actually getting out of hiking this trip. It is starting to feel like I am rehashing the Appalachian Trail with a change of scenery and I am not learning anything or garnering any new experiences. I was just getting down to my true feelings about this trip when it hit me like an epiphany: I want to go home. It was hard to even think about at first. It seemed dirty and almost blasphemous. I am supposed to be out here completing the PCT, the entire PCT. But as I allowed myself to entertain the notion it seemed more and more right. When I am hiking I usually dream about other trips or experiences I will have later on during the trip but this time I was dreaming about our house and the Keweenaw. I don’t want to commit to the idea of going home without talking to Hannah but I feel good about it. During all this soul searching and reflecting many hours had passed and it was well passed 1am. I started dozing off in my chair and decided that Hannah may not even make it to VVR tonight so I should probably get some sleep. I feel content and I hope she shows up while I sleep.
Day 52 South Fork of the San Joaquin River, Kings Canyon National Park, CA
24 miles
Another day where I set an alarm with good intentions and ignored it completely when morning came. I was up at a quarter after 6am. My ankle was still pretty sore from yesterday as I set up my tent and I was feeling pretty fatigued. Baby Steps and I headed out of camp by 7am but he must have felt better than me because it was struggle to keep up. The trail immediately began the long climb up Muir Pass. It wasn’t very steep but seem to go on forever. Intermittent snow gradually turned into a solid blanket and became deep and soft. It was long slog of over six miles before I hit the top of the ridge. There was a cool stone hut on top and we rested there for a while watching the marmots and birds. Down went a lot like up. Long and snowy but not too steep. In the last two miles the sun had softened the snow to the point where it wasn’t firm enough to walk on and falling in with every step wore me out quickly. Luckily the rest of the day was a long slow descent and I recovered quickly. The trail was, once again, more beautiful than I can describe. This place really is heaven. The valleys, meadow, peaks, ridges, lakes and and streams all meld together to create a place that is beyond words and nothing but sitting in its midst can do it justice. Evolution creek is legendary for its difficulty and people have been talking about it for the last one hundred and fifty miles. As usual I let myself be drawn into the hype. I was worried. I got there and felt silly for my concern. It was wide; maybe 100 ft or so but it was slow moving as it gently rolled through a meadow. I don’t get it. People must just need something to build up the intensity of an otherwise benign trip so they convince themselves that parts of what they are doing are dangerous to achieve that “epic” feeling they lack. We pulled off the trail early because we were running out of water and the trail was bending away from the river and up a pretty significant climb. There is a hot spring labeled on the map and we tried to get to it but the river was too strong to cross and it lay on the other side. I cooked dinner, treated some water and set up camp quickly because the mosquitoes were intolerable. Today went well, I didn’t feel as lonely as I have over the past few days and it gives me hope that I am not so incurably attached to Hannah that I won’t be able to function in life without her. But, for all the confirmation of the security in my independence, I am still really excited at the possibility of seeing her tomorrow.
Day 51 Two Miles Passed Bishop Pass Trail, Sequoia National Park, CA
28 Miles
I intended on getting up early so I could put another long day in and optimize my time on the snow fields but when my alarm went off I just wasn’t ready to get up. I hit the snooze button twice and then just shut off the alarm completely. I heard some movement outside my tent and it motivated me to get moving. I climbed out to see 6 or 7 deer grazing in the meadow about ten feet from my front door. It was a nice surprise to wake up to. I was up and out of the tent by 7am but there was a really heavy dew last night and it looked like it had rained. My stuff was soaked so it took me an extra few minutes to pack up. Once I was hiking I could feel the long day yesterday in my legs. They felt heavier than usual. I made my way up the long valley and across a big boulder field that had intermittent snow. I kept seeing glimpses of another hiker in front of me as I headed up the steep slopes of Pinchot Pass. It was a steep, snowy scramble and I had no idea where the actual trail was but it was a relatively short climb up so it went quickly. As I followed the footprints in the snow down the other side I ran into the hiker I kept seeing on my way up. Baby Steps (John) had started a few days after Hannah and I and was making really good time. He has done a lot of amazing traveling and talking made the miles fly by. It was really nice to have someone to hike with and having some fresh ideas and experiences brought to the conversation really brightened my day. We lost the trail in the nebulous labyrinth of snowy footprints but there was only one way down the valley so we just kept walking and eventually stumbled back onto the trail. I didn’t eat very well all morning and my energy just crashed as we quickly put miles behind us. I heard a loud roar and two military fighter jets came screaming up the canyon flowing low over my head. It was kind of cool to see but it left me a little irritated. They are a perfect symbol of modernity and society and juxtaposed against this wilderness background their presence seemed almost sacrileges. I met a Park Service ranger on the trail near a creek crossing and he warned me of the river ahead. He said it was pretty tough with deep fast water. We chatted for a bit and he asked about my permits and bear canister but didn’t check for them. When we got the river it was flowing pretty strong and was one of the tougher so far but it was nothing I would have worried about. That seems to be the way it goes out here. There is a lot of hype about the climbs, the snow, the creeks but when I get there they all seem pretty normal and not worth the stress. As we approached Mather Pass it was hard to see a route up in the snow. It looked like a sheer wall. It was a sheer a wall. And there was no route. We just went straight up. For the first time I felt like my ice axe added to the safety of my situation and was worth it’s weight. I got to the top out of breath and exhausted. Once again, we lost the trail on the decent and did some serious bush whacking. Once we got off of the snowfield and the trail wound its way toward Deer Meadow the landscape opened up even more and the views became, almost impossibly, more spectacular. Big peaks shadowed grassy meadows and lush forests. It was perfect. We ate dinner near a bridge crossing the King’s River and continued on in the fading light to get in a few extra miles. We stopped at a nondescript campsite that should leave us with a pretty good shot at Muir Pass tomorrow. Today went pretty well. Aside from being beat tired, having soaking wet feel all day and developing a pretty nasty pain in my ankle I would call today a success. I really enjoyed hiking with John and it added a new perspective to the hike. The things he said about his trip reminded me of myself on the AT. His adventure seemed fresh and new. It made me think about my hike. I don’t feel like that any more. This is becoming a job. We crossed some of the most beautiful country in the world today and, while I really enjoyed it and soaked in the experience, all I could think about was getting in a few more miles and getting closer to Canada. I don’t like that.
Day 50 Twin Lakes
Trail miles 25, Total miles 28
I slept better than I thought I would last night. I figured being alone in the tent would make me restless but I just passed out from exhaustion after the long day. I did get a little cold being up so high in elevation and when I climbed out of the tent there was ice everywhere. I thought it would be a lot easier getting up without Hannah here as she is usually the lazy one who just wants to lay in bed. It wasn’t any easier and I just assumed the role of the person pushing the snooze button. I was up and moving by 5:30am andyhe snow was still really hard and frozen. I put on my microspikes and it turned the miles from a slippery snowy mess to a easy and fast walk. I made Forester Pass in no time. I pulled out my ice axe and just cruised right up. It was a lot easier than it looked with wide and gentle switchbacks most of the way. Even the dreaded avalanche shoot wasn’t nearly as scary as it looked; it was only about six steps across and wasn’t as steep as it appeared. When I got to the top I cekebrated for a moment and took a few photos. The view on the other side was a world of white. The snow field was huge and steep. As I made my way across I knew Hannah made the right decision skipping this section. The trail was just a long row of footsteps in the snow across a steep slope. She would have hated it. I lost the trail in the snow and ended up bushwacking down a steep slope toward where my map said the trail should be. I found it no problem but not without getting stuck on a cliffy section for a while. The miles Of hiking once I got below treeline were easy and uneventful. I started to climb back up toward Glenn Pass around 11am. The climb was steep and routefinding was difficult. I had no idea where the trail was but I could see the pass above me so I just kept climbing. It was a long a sketchy scramble over rocks and snow but I made the top without incident. I lost the trail again but just kept following a set footprints in the snow until the descended down a big snow bridge over a rushing creek. The footprints went right passed a few holes in the snow bridge where you could see the whitewater rushing below and splasing up through the hole. It was really dangerous so I found an alternative route. The trail descended to Rae Lakes, a series of amazing alpine lakes. It is by far the prettiest section of trail yet. The huge peaks reflecting on the calm water was breathtaking. You could see tons of trout swimming around and the water was so blue and refreshing looking I wanted to take swim but the ice floating around really deterred me. The next few miles were a long descent down to Woods Creek. I must have crossed two dozen streams and my feet were soaked the whole time. Then, out of nowhere, there was a bridge, but not a bridge over one of the creeks. Just a bridge. Over dry land. It boggled my mind and left my wet feet a little grumpy. As I walked along I saw a pine Martin jump from a tree and dash across a meadow. I eventually got to woods creek, where there is a very big bridge over a very big river, and settled down to cooking dinner. I wasn’t hungry but I had to eat, if only to lighten my pack a bit. I made a small feast and set about eating it. After it was gone and I was so stuffed I could barely move I picked up my pack and started the long climb back up into the high country. I was walking up a deep canyon with huge waterfalls pouring down the sides for thousands of feet. It was really cool to see but I had to keep crossing the streams those waterfalls created and some of them were pretty deep and fast. Around 8pm I found a nice flat spot near two lakes and called it a day. Today was a little easier than yesterday but I still felt pretty lonely all day. Hiking big miles helps a lot because it keeps me busy and gets me closer to Hannah. The high Sierra are amazing. If the next few days go like today I just might make it through.
Day 49 Two miles passed Tyndall Creek
Trail miles -0, total miles -31
Today was tough. I think I have lost the knack for hiking alone. Hannah woke up at 6am and started organizing her stuff for her part in the adventure that was about to happen. It made me really sad to watch her pack up and knowing we were going in differant directions. By 7:30am we were out of the hotel and we stopped at mcdonalds across the street for a quick breakfast. I walked her over to the bus stop and said a short but tough goodbye. I know she can handle herself just fine but not knowing what she is going to do makes me a little nervous. I walked back across town and stuck my thumb out for another round of hitch hiking out of Lone Pine. It was really hot and sunny and took me a while to get a ride. I was back to the trailhead by 9am and started hiking imediately. I walked hard and focused on what I was doing to avoid thinking about the loneliness that was settling in. I made the four miles to the top of the pass in an hour and just kept rolling. I barely noticed the miles pass as I pushed hard and kept rerunning the math to figure out how many miles and how long it would take until I was back with Hannah. I barely ate or drank anything the entire time I was hiking and only set my pack down twice during the first twenty five miles. I skipped lunch and just kept hiking because I was afraid that if I stopped I would start thinking about the next week by myself. I stopped for dinner at Wright Creek after twenty five miles of nearly continuos walking. I made some mac and cheese but had a hard time finishing it. My appetite has really crashed all of the sudden. After dinner I loAded back up and pressed on. I wanted to make another 5 miles to Tyndall Creek and try to set myself up well to go over Forester Pass tomorrow. When I got there it was still early, 7:30pm, so, after an encouraging chat with a thru hiker named Wounded Knee Walker, I pushed on fir a few more miles. At 8:30pm I realized I was on the side of a steep slope with water gushing down it everywhere. I started searching for a campsite and after ten minutes found what was probably the only flat dry spot for miles. I set up the tent and methodically went through my usual evening routine. The tent seems big and empty with just me and my stuff in it. It was a long day and I made good miles. I know it is silly to get so worked up about being alone for five or six days but it has been a long time since I have done anything without Hannah and it feels very foriegn and empty. Today wasn’t as bad as I expected and I think it will get easier.
Day 48 Dow Villa Motel, Lone Pine, CA
Trail miles – 0, Total miles- 13
Today went a little better than the last two. We hiked the ten miles of PCT back to Cottonwood Pass and the four miles down to the road at Horseshoe Meadows. It was like Deja Vu. We had been here less than a week ago. We sat in the same spot waiting for a ride. It all seemed very surreal. I had come to terms with Hannah not crossing the Sierra but my next move seemed uncertain. I didn’t like the idea of her going off alone and I liked the idea of me going off alone even less. But in the back of my head I knew that was what had to happen. We eventually caught a ride down and ate lunch at Carls Jr. We went back to the same hotel and ended up in the same room as before. We set about figuring out logistics for the next few days. We only have one tent and cooking set up so one of us was going out really unprepared. Hannah got elected as that someone because she had to do less hiking. We bought some more food and I loaded all the gear into my pack. It weighed a ton. I have eight days of food so I have to make the 150 miles in at least that. Hannah did my laundry as I lay around the hotel room. I couldn’t help because she was washing all of my clothes and I didn’t want to make a scene. We went to the pool and relaxed a bit in the heat of the day. It was easily 110 and the cool water felt good. We chatted with a middle aged couple from California and met another hiker who was about to leave on the John Muir Trail. We went out to dinner with him and his girlfriend and talked a lot about the trip. It was a nice reminder that what we are doing is kind of big and out of the ordinary. By the time dinner was done it was well past my bedtime so we went back to the room and settled in. It is weird thinking that this will be the last night sleeping next to Hannah for as long as a week. It is going to be pretty tough for me. I am really used to the companionship.
