Weeks Nine and Ten (ish)

Sunday, July 4th

Late start today–left about noon and ran smack into the Independence Day parade in the town of Independence, CA. Stocky men holding the edges of a giant U.S. flag and marching along, old guys spraying the audience with old fire hoses from a faded, red vintage fire engine, truck after truck after truck of the U.S. Forest Service fire crew parading bumper to bumper, honking, waving and blowing sirens with riotous applause from the audience (the Inyo Creek fire near the Whitney Portal road and trail had just been contained), young women on horses, little kids on bikes, old-timers chatting on the courthouse steps in the shade…it was well worth the 40 minute delay.

The hike up Kearsarge Pass (again) was difficult–two days at the lower elevation of Lone Pine meant that my stomach was not as inured to altitude sickness as it had been. Had a blast taking deep, careful breaths at the top and talking to a trio of young men planning to summit some of the local peaks though. One of them was carrying the red, white and blue “crocs of shame” which he’d earned by being late to the trailhead. Also visited with the trio of college girls we’d met back at Crabtree Meadow, more than a week prior. They are getting college credit for hiking the John Muir Trail (reading Muir, Thoreau, Strayed, etc. on the way)! Saw Jake (praying hands), Torch and her husband again–on their way off trail at Kearsarge Pass. Hiked the ten or so miles to the base of Glenn Pass and camped on a granite ledge. Met the PCT trail family ‘the blob’ which we’d been hearing about–including Commissioner, who was grieved that she’d missed saying goodbye to Torch.

Monday, July 5th.

Sunday night I stretched out my leg while watching the sunset and cooking ramen and felt a sharp twinge in my knee. Cooking ramen! Not the huge passes, not the long mile days. Nope–injury by noodle. No worries, I thought…it will sort itself out by morning. Got up in the morning and hobbled a few feet–not good. Felt something in my knee “click” a few minutes later and the pain was gone. Then, heading up Glenn Pass–one wrong step and the pain took over. “Bridges” was filtering water and had a knee brace to share–thank you Bridges! Generally, the climb up was much, much less painful than the subsequent trip down the other side. That didn’t stop us from having a lovely visit with Ravi, Monica, Patches (all hiking a section of the John Muir Trail) and Chainsaw and Mighty (PCT hikers) at the top of the pass. Freddy had given Chainsaw a ride in to Julian way back at the beginning of the PCT.

Chainsaw had just had a bear encounter the night before (he showed us the video with him calmly stating ‘go away bear, time to go bear’ but nevertheless his pack got gnawed up)–he was still a little shaky. Ravi turned out to work for Amazon in Seattle–and was actively recruiting for software developers. We had a little job fair at the top of the pass–Chainsaw turned out to be a tech guy, and Ravi gave me his contact info–strongly encouraging Matt to contact him (“we’re a much better fit for him, doing really creative stuff” said Ravi). The downward trip down Glenn Pass was extremely slow due to my knee–even a theological discussion with Bridges failed to distract me from the discomfort. We called it an early day at Rae Lakes, thinking a night’s rest and soaking my knee in lake water might make a difference. Nope.

Tuesday, July 6th

Took another rest day at Rae Lakes. Had a beautiful visit with JMT hikers Kathy and Jim in the morning–all of us had decided to take an extra day off. Chris and I pretty much decided our best option was to back out to Kearsarge Pass–taking it really slow (about seven miles a day)–and then getting up to Mammoth Lakes to get my knee looked at.

Wednesday, July 7th

Hiked back over Glenn Pass (more great conversation–different group of folks) out to the Kearsarge Pass trail intersection and found a lovely camp spot overlooking Bullfrog Lake. The short hiking day meant I had more time to take photos. Life on the trail:

Thursday, July 8th

Hiked up to Kearsage Pass–actually not that bad, but the knee was still making its unhappiness known. Thanks to our extra day at Rae Lakes, we were completely adjusted to the altitude. Met a couple at the top of the pass who saw me limping and immediately offered to take my bear canister and other items down to the trail head for me. Thank you Jeanne and Charlie! Hiked the ouch-y descent by way of Gilbert Lake and a healing swim, then finally back to the car…and back up to where we left the truck at Mammoth Lakes….and then numerous calls to insurance people regarding coverage in Mammoth Lakes (only the hospital ER, and no alternatives for a couple of hundred miles). Stayed at historic Camp High Sierras–owned by the City of Los Angeles, of all things, and in business since the 1920’s. Big benches made from lengths of tree trunks, showers, a lodge to hang out in, and very sweet staff.

Friday, July 9th

Chose to pay out of network for a same day appointment with a Mammoth Lakes orthopedist. Prognosis unclear (was not about to pay out of network prices for an MRI) but a steroid shot seemed to be the best option for getting me back on the trail–in five to seven days! Saw old PCT friend Dan at the coffee shop, he too had an injured knee, and Chris was able to drive him to the hospital.

Saturday, July 10th

Showers! Huge burritos!

Sunday, July 11th

We’re tourists! Finally got to visit the Mono Lake Visitor’s Center (natural history museum), which is always closed when we are driving to Death Valley for Spring break. We had ice cream cones at Mono Cone, plus to a drive on the June Lake loop–went wading in June Lake with a thunderstorm slowing rolling in…entertained the campers next to us with our uke and 1/2 size fiddle combo…

Monday, July 12th

Visited Mamie Lake up in the Lakes Basin, had a little bit of a swim, a tiny hike (knee still painful)…more music!

Tuesday, July 13th

Lake Mary, swimming, decided we had to stay in town until the following weekend for a full recovery…more music! Went to Footloose Sports store and got fitted for a sturdier trail shoe (the idea being to reduce lateral motion in my knees)–thanks to the absolutely wonderful Kevin for spending more than 90 minutes with me to find the right shoes and insoles!

Wednesday, July 14th

Lake Mary, swimming, tiny hike (painful after 2 miles–getting better!) Lots of reading this week!

–Kamala Harris–The Truths We Hold. Handed down to me by my folks.

–Madeleine L’Engle–A Circle of Quiet–the Crosswick’s Journal (Wrightwood Public Library Book Sale)

–Anne Lamott–Grace Eventually–Thoughts on Faith (.25 cents at the Mammoth Lakes Thrift Store)

–Random British coming of age (middle age, that is) novel from Wrightwood Library sale

–Random Danish noir novel handed down to me by my folks

–Random American coming of age (middle age, again) novel from the book box at Camp High Sierra

–Edward Abbey–Desert Solitaire (forgot I meant to read this when were hiking the desert portion of the PCT). There’s an insouciance to his writing that annoys me though, and I’ve read it a couple times before, so I’m just flipping through it this time.

–Brian Cornell–Divided: A Walk on the Continental Divide Trail. Lent to me by Gina at Camp High Sierra.

–Selected Poems–Wordsworth (from the Wrightwood Library sale)

–Selected Writings–Whitman (from the Wrightwood Library sale)

–Sara Zanjanni–Sara Winnemucca (passed on by Chris’ sister Lesley). Mixed feelings about this book. I just ordered Sara Winnamucca’s autobiography (Life Among the Piutes–Their Wrongs and Claims).

(All of these were squirreled away in the truck or purchased/acquired on the road–no print books in backpacks, natch).

Thursday, July 15th

Happy Birthday to my sweetheart! Woke up to find that the little backpack containing our set of camp dishes had been mauled–most likely by the juvenile bear we’d seen hanging out slightly uphill from our campsite. We were asking ourselves ‘why target the camp dishes?’ when we suddenly remembered storing Chris’ three Snickers bars in the same backpack as a way to keep them cool. Yep–they were devoured. What a fortune for little bear (or bad fortune–getting acclimated to human food leads to a host of problems for all wildlife, but especially for bears.)

Tiny hike, quick visit to Lake George, wading at Lake Mary (too windy and cold in the lakes basin for swimming), birthday dinner, a little music, and a very clean camp at bedtime.

Friday, July 16th

Library visit and conversation at the Mammoth Lake library. What a great library! Laundry, packing up…trial five mile hike with packs (went fine–knee a little sore, but operational)…one last swim at Lake Mary. Tomorrow we try getting back to the PCT! We’re leaving from Sonora Pass, having decided to skip the knee-breaking southern Sierras and assigning ourselves short easy days to start. We’re SO happy to get back out there! Good bye to Camp High Sierra–Gina, Max and Alex–you all are wonderful!

Saturday, July 17th

Whoops, no hiking to Ebbets Pass from Sonora Pass–big international bike race up there. Whoops, no bike race OR hiking at Ebbets Pass–there’s a big fire up there (Tamarack Fire) that exploded overnight. Now looking at starting well north of Ebbets Pass…lot’s of bear activity, but hey, once we get the Snickers bars under control, we’re good with bears!