It's around 6 pm and I'm making dinner on the trail. I'm calling it a short day because I'm just not feeling it today. Hiked 14 miles from Kennedy Meadows North resort (not to be confused with the Kennedy Meadows at mile 702, the entry point to the Sierra). There, I sent home my 2-lb bear canister and had an excellent prime rib. A guy at the next table over asked if we were PCTers, then put two bottles of wine on our table. I was ok with this.
The trail from Mammoth Lakes was pretty hard. The mountain passes were lower but still tiring, and there were many creek fords. I walked through knee deep water several times per day, in addition to flooded sections of trail every twenty minutes. I'm a little concerned about trench foot. Also, tons of mosquitoes.
I passed through Yosemite National Park. Decided to skip it because it's an annoying tourist trap this time of year, and I had just backpacked there two months ago.
The final mountain pass was the dreaded Sonora. I read a week ago about a woman there who slipped on the steep snow, hit some rocks, and had to call an ambulance. This was a tough descent. The north face was very steep and covered in packed snow. It was not very tracked out, so the three hikers part-way down were sitting on their butts, carefully lowering themselves down while holding rocks. There was also an *insane* glissade track from the top. It was super steep, like a black diamond ski run, and had a boulder filled runout at the bottom. One of the hikers who did it had a nasty ice burn from wearing running shorts, and told us she left blood in the snow. I went down the boring way, using my ice axe to steady myself and kicking in steps with my heels. A little tricky in sneakers, but it was an uneventful descent for me.
Now I'm 60 miles from South Lake Tahoe, where I'll take a zero. Still deciding on a buffet to hit up. Probably Harrah's or the sushi one. Hiker hunger has kind of been a bust for me. I get hungrier, but it's not like I'm finishing off multiple entrées at once. Yogi's guide exaggerated everything.
The trail from Mammoth Lakes was pretty hard. The mountain passes were lower but still tiring, and there were many creek fords. I walked through knee deep water several times per day, in addition to flooded sections of trail every twenty minutes. I'm a little concerned about trench foot. Also, tons of mosquitoes.
I passed through Yosemite National Park. Decided to skip it because it's an annoying tourist trap this time of year, and I had just backpacked there two months ago.
The final mountain pass was the dreaded Sonora. I read a week ago about a woman there who slipped on the steep snow, hit some rocks, and had to call an ambulance. This was a tough descent. The north face was very steep and covered in packed snow. It was not very tracked out, so the three hikers part-way down were sitting on their butts, carefully lowering themselves down while holding rocks. There was also an *insane* glissade track from the top. It was super steep, like a black diamond ski run, and had a boulder filled runout at the bottom. One of the hikers who did it had a nasty ice burn from wearing running shorts, and told us she left blood in the snow. I went down the boring way, using my ice axe to steady myself and kicking in steps with my heels. A little tricky in sneakers, but it was an uneventful descent for me.
Now I'm 60 miles from South Lake Tahoe, where I'll take a zero. Still deciding on a buffet to hit up. Probably Harrah's or the sushi one. Hiker hunger has kind of been a bust for me. I get hungrier, but it's not like I'm finishing off multiple entrées at once. Yogi's guide exaggerated everything.
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