Day 78

20.6 miles

Camped at mile 1270.3

Went to general store in Buck Lake

This morning consisted of a long well graded climb for a few miles as we climbed out of the Feather river ravine. It grew hot and almost humid pretty quickly. I was super grateful for the trees along most of the climb. Today’s forest was mostly unburned. Yesterday we walked through the Bear Creek fire area until we got to the river. But it might have been the Dixie fire. From now until Old Station, we have to choose our campsites well based on what areas are burned or unburned.

Today we added the adventure of walking into town to visit the little general store for snacks, cold drinks, and ice cream! The town was called Buck Lake and it has several campgrounds and quite a few vacation rentals. There are two restaurants, one of which was closed today the other one was only open for drinks. The bartender was very kind and patient as he was the only one working. One of the locals bought all eight of us drinks. Along the way into camp yesterday and then into town today, our group had picked up other hikers who had been hiking on their own. One of our friends in another hiking group that is usually behind us, calls our group the “get alongs”. Meaning we get along with and welcome everyone we see into the campsite, hiking groups, or dinner time we are having. I really appreciate this part of our group. But sometimes it means there are a lot of us so I was impressed we got our drinks bought for us with such a big group!

The bartender was telling us how last year at this time, their entire town was evacuated for six weeks because of the fires. It is wild the vast impacts fire season is having now.

On the way back from town, we got a hitch and piled six people plus packs into the back of a truck. What an adventure!

Mammoth Lakes

Day 58-

5.8 miles, .4 was not in the PCT,

Got off at Reds Meadow to go into Mammoth Lakes!

Since we went a few extra miles yesterday, it was a short hike to the bus stop at Reds Meadow store today! Mammoth Lakes is such a neat town. Where the trail enters the resort town area is within a restricted access area. Meaning most people have to take a bus to the various trailheads along the road that runs parallel to the PCT. So the easiest way into town was to take the bus down to the ski resort which is now open for mountain biking and other activities. Then we took a shuttle to the main part of town by the fancy Westin and some stores. Then a trolley system brought us to the various places we needed to go to run errands like a diner and grocery outlet. It was super convenient!

We arrived to town in time for a diner breakfast! It was needed and delicious after being in the mountains for eight days. Mammoth Lakes was still full of vacationers after the Fourth of July yesterday so we got quite a few looks from some tourists who probably wondered why we smelled so bad. The locals seemed super chill with our stench and dirt. Fellow dirt bag outdoors people!

The group we have been hiking with got an air bnb in town for the night which was super convenient since almost everything was busy, booked, or expensive during this holiday week. It felt great to shower and have space to figure out groceries. I got way too much food for the next two days until we get to Tuolumne but I will fully enjoy eating all of it and it will make resupplying in Tuolumne a bit cheaper.

Vermillion Valley Resort

Day 56-July 3

Resupply at Vermillion Valley Resort

Nero day

It felt so cold this morning. Definitely not below freezing but still mountain air chilly. Our plan was to hike in to a small resupply place in the sierras. It was about five miles off trail to a camp type “resort” on Lake Thomas Edison. It is an expensive resupply place since it is four hours from any town but we only needed two days of food. They also had a grill with sandwiches and burgers and wifi. I had been looking forward to getting French fries for a few days. The resort is an odd mix of backpackers and car campers since they have platform tents, cabins, and campsites for rent too. We just came in to get some resupply food and a meal from the grill. On the way back to trail, we took the ferry across the lake! The Vermillion Valley Resort runs a ferry that takes hikers the three miles across the lake to the trailhead instead of having to hike it. The resort is run by a previous hiker who bought the place and loved his family up there. They have been through a lot with a forest fire almost taking out the whole place and now incredibly low water levels in the lake from low snow years. We were grateful they were still up and running so we could do a little resupply for the next two days before Mammoth Lakes.

Back on the PCT!

Day 51

Camped previous night at Gilbert lake 2.2 miles into Kearsage pass, today hiked 16 miles, only 10.6 were on the PCT. Camped at suspension bridge, has a bear box.

The views coming back into Kearsarge pass were better than the views going out. So many alpine lakes and views of tall rocky but pointed mountains. Even so, we were very happy to make it back to the PCT and have our miles be directed north towards Canada again. We did two passes today, both Kearsarge and Glen. Usually we will just do one pass because of the elevation gain and effort. But we made it over both passes by 12pm and descended into Rae Lakes. This area is one of the most popular in Kings Canyon National Park for backpacking. It is absolutely beautiful with all the lakes that are such a deep blue and green color set right into the back drop of the gray, black, and red striped mountains. What a beautiful place. We stopped for lunch at one of the lakes and just enjoyed the scenery and the people we are with right now.

View on Kearsarge pass headed back to the PCT

Even though we did less miles today than usual, it still felt tiring so we were glad to make it to camp and get dinner. Everyone was happy to crawl into tents at 7:30pm since we have a hefty climb to start our day tomorrow.

Lake day

Day 50

2.2 miles up to Gilbert lake at Kearsarge

0 PCT miles

Sleeping in felt glorious at the hostel. Then we laid out our food to make sure everything would fit in our bear can. That is a challenge, trying to eat enough food for the amount of energy we expend but also have it fit in our bear can.

As soon as we got all our stuff situated, we went to the climbing gym with the group we have been hiking with. They wanted Kevin to teach them more about how to boulder! He is a great teacher and climber. I sat and watched with another of our hiking group.

Since it was so hot today (101 degrees) and the trailhead was 56 miles away, we got a shuttle to the trailhead. Then we didn’t have to stand out in the heat and try to get a ride. There were seven of us in the group headed out to the trailhead so we could split the cost. The driver of the shuttle said he used to be in the army and driving hikers around was way more relaxing than getting shot at on a daily basis. I would hope so.

We only hiked in about two and a half miles this afternoon. I was exhausted from the previous days’ miles and all the errands in town. It was so beautiful at the lake and a treat to just take our time and rest. Technically this is a zero day since we didn’t hike any PCT miles. We are ready to do less miles a day in this next section in the Sierras. Both to enjoy the days and fully soak in the beauty around us.

Double zero

Day 42

Second zero day

Kennedy Meadows

Because of Kevin’s foot and my blisters we had decided to take two zeros here. Sleeping in til 8 am felt so great this morning. We have tried to make this double zero not super expensive so we are eating from our resupply box and some cheap meals at TCO and I scored some good stuff from the hiker box too. Hiker boxes have been gold so far, lots of stuff other hikers don’t want that have been super great for me!

It has been really fun to be here for two days and see almost everyone that we have met on the trail that was behind us. We have seen a few groups that started with us but had taken longer breaks in towns and such and now they have caught up. We are starting again tomorrow with one group that we have really enjoyed hiking with.

It has been awesome hearing how everyone is doing and learning more about people’s backgrounds. I talked with one woman from Switzerland today for awhile. She is a social worker and was telling me about what that is like in her practice and we were comparing notes to what counseling and social work was like here.

Then I talked with a marine botanist who studied frogs and whales. I learned so much about whales in the North Atlantic Ocean and what she has been working on with her team of protecting the whales and helping to change legislation and fishing practices to not harm the whales. It was so neat to hear how these measures are working and things are getting better. I think I don’t always get to hear about these types of hopeful situations. Also I love whales and loved learning about her work.

Then we spent some time repairing our gear. I sewed our gaiters again and put some patches on Kevin’s. Then we patched our tent. I don’t think our tent will last for this thruhike which is disappointing. It has gone over 3,100 miles so it isn’t like it is just breaking on day one but tents are so expensive so we were hoping it would make it. The DCF fabric is weather worn.

Tomorrow we set out into the Sierras! I am very excited to be up in the mountains again! We have done some hiking around this section and we have been in mountains a lot so I’m not too nervous about that aspect but there is always the cautious thought in the back of my head that the mountains can whop your hinny in a matter of seconds and be life threatening. Mother Nature doesn’t give a crap about your experience and knowledge but always has the upper hand. I like to call this cautious part of me a healthy respect for the mountains because there is also the bold and strong part of me that still like to go out and climb these suckers.

Pizza! – Day 27

LA RV campground to 4 miles outside of Agua Dulce

14.3 miles

“Chill” was the word of the day. After going almost 50 miles in two days we decided to have a chill day today. I like pushing miles and then spacing those days out with a less mile day here and there. So this morning at the campground I finished my laundry, had a leisurely breakfast, and sat around and talked with some other hikers. I am trying some new blister bandages today. I traded fruit snacks for a pack of the bandages from another hiker we have been leapfrogging (hiking similar speed so we see him regularly) around on the trail. Fair trade in my opinion!

Today we meandered around the outskirts of town called Agua Dulce. According to a hiker we met in town, LA is only 30 miles away. It seems like a different dimension. Although, we did see the LA skyline from a ridge two days ago.

One neat part of our day included going through Vasquez Rocks Natural Area. It is an LA county park that has a bunch of rock formations which were formed by the San Andreas fault. The looks of the rock reminded me of Garden of the gods so it was a bit reminiscent of home. This park has also been used as a filming location for lots of movies like westerns, Star Trek, and The Lone Ranger. Nothing I have actually watched to recognize the location but it is beautiful none the less!

The trail oddly enough walks along the side of the road through Agua Dulce. It is more of an unincorporated location than a town but still has some houses selling for $950,000. Kevin checked to see if he could start a hostel here.

Our first stop in town was the pizza shop. Yesterday Kevin had gotten enough service on the ridge to see that this shop had gluten free crust and vegan cheese. My gluten and dairy free life has made finding pizza impossible so I might have cried when he found that out. Frankly it was delicious and I ordered two pizzas and carried some out for dinner!

It was worth carrying the pizza out of town even though I also had to carry six liters of water too. From town to our camp tomorrow night is a roughly 24 mile dry section. It will be an early morning tomorrow to make sure we get to the water before it gets too hot.

Desert heat – Day 26

23.4 miles

Mill Creek area to the LA RV campground

Clouds and humidity! My skin didn’t even know how to feel. Okay well yes it did because it was so sweaty in the humid morning. The cloud cover was fantiastic as we made it through our longest climb of the day. Then the sun came out, my blisters started hurting, and it got really hot. We have been hiking through a lot of burn areas and are super grateful to the firefighters who work so hard and all the trail crews who maintain the trails up in these rugged places.

The afternoon highlight was a water cache at a ranger station. The guide book had said to not rely on this water source but the frequently updated comments said there was enough water. So we carried enough to get there from last night and then had to carry enough water from the ranger station to the campground.

The last mile was a tease since we could see the campground from the ridge but had to go one mile around the next hill and down the slope to reach the road.

The shade and cold drinks at the campground store never felt to good! We had decided to stay at the campground to have a relaxing morning after resupplying from our box. I took a shower here and watched the seeming pounds of desert dust flow off my skin and down the drain.

Big Bear Resupply

Day 17

Camp before Big Bear to Doble Creek campsite

9.2 miles

Today was a low mileage (Nero) town resupply day! After camping close to town yesterday, we had a short 7 miles to the trailhead to finish up this morning. One hiker whom we hadn’t seen in a few miles walked up as we were leaving camp. It was fun to hike out together.

Then we met up with one of Kevin’s friends, Sam, who gave us and our friends a ride into town. We got some diner food since we had eaten all our food yesterday and were hungry coming into town. Then we went to Sam’s house to do laundry, take showers, charge our power banks, and hang out. It was a great time and so so kind of friends to take us in.

It was fantastic to resupply at a full grocery store. I got some food I am looking forward to eating and some more filling dinners, hopefully. Sometimes the rice noodle pastas don’t have as many calories as the other type of dinners. I even got some gluten free double stuff Oreos and carried sushi out for my dinner once we got to camp! It was fantastic