Week Eight!

Tuesday, June 29th

It’s our two month anniversary hiking the PCT! Went from Horseshoe Meadow up Trail Pass to the PCT (met a hiker at the intersection holding his hands in prayer position constantly as he walked). Climbed up Cottonwood Pass, saw Chicken Spring Lake (too cold and stormy to swim), then a long traverse to our camp for the night. As we were leaving for Horseshoe Meadow we met ‘Cheerleader’ (six foot plus, reddish beard, tropical print swim trunks)–he’s from Bend! Also saw ‘Turtle’, who we last saw on the L.A. aqueduct with a hurt foot. We had given him a ride to town–several weeks before–so he could heal. It was great to see him all the way up trail!

Wednesday, June 30th

Hiked up Guyot Pass, met Kate–heading up to Mt. Whitney with a big pack. Had rain and thunder in the afternoon and got very wet (my inclination was to hide under a pine tree; Chris encouraged us to keep on hiking). Also ran into our old friends David and Karen again–the couple that gave us a ride down to Lone Pine when my tendon started squeaking last week! They had just run 29 miles on the PCT after climbing/running Mt. Whitney the day before. Continued up to a high plateau (beautiful, with a snow melt lake and mountains all around).

We camped at Tyndall Frog Ponds near Tyndall Creek.

Thursday, July 1st

Hiked up Forester Pass–the highest elevation on the PCT at 13,200 ft. Saw marmots squabbling over the salt from some hiker’s celebratory pee at the top of the pass!

Had a nice talk with sibling hikers Brooks and Gabby just after the pass. The pass itself was fine. Legs were fine. The impending thunder storm as we came down under the other side was not fine. We called it quits with the rain a little early and set up camp shortly before Vidette Meadows.

Friday, July 2nd

Got up early to beat the storms on the next pass and were surprised to see a bear nosing around for roots in the wet meadow as we started off! It ignored us as we slipped by–Cat singing a rousing few verses of “The Girl I Left Behind Me”, not necessarily in tune and somewhat breathlessly.

We had a surprisingly steep climb through Vidette Meadows, then yet another pass (Kearsarge) on the way out to Lone Pine yet again–playing it safe for another day of icing and Motrin for my leg (and pancakes–don’t forget the pancakes at Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills cafe) before starting the long section to Mammoth Lakes. We were happy to meet Logan–about 22 years old and a geology/anthropology major with a summer job at Death Valley–at the top of Kearsarge and hiked the remaining five miles down to the trail head with him answering all of our stored up geology questions. Oh, and we chatted with runners Karen and David again–this time they were backpacking up to the PCT to do more runs. All that, and then we headed down to pick up the car, drove both cars up to Mammoth Lakes, got the oil changed on the Subaru, left the truck at our new trail head, bought trail food for the next ten days, and then headed back to our hotel in Lone Pine to collapse, ice, and sleep.

Saturday, July 3rd

Rest, pancakes, a little shopping (new trail gaiters, since I somehow lost my old ones), packing, swim and a hot tub and a lovely talk with the sibling hikers once again (they had finished their JMT hike and were at the same hotel). What do you think the great positive force of the universe wants you to do now? “Be….not special, not outstanding…just be.”

Sunday, July 4th–we’ll be off on a ten day section!