*these posts are coming straight from trail, I apologize in advance for typos!*
Location: High Sierra
Start: Vermilion Valley Resort – 879.9
End: Tentsite – 889.7
Miles: 9.8
Ascent: 4165 | Descent: 2649
Sleep: Tent
What a great day! We woke up around 6:30am at VVR to pack up the tent before breakfast. The resort served breakfast from 7-9:30am and we wanted to be some of the first in line. When we got inside to order there was already a line, but it gave us a chance to peruse the resupply options. We had looked at our food last night and determined that we had enough to get us into Mammoth in 2 days so we didn’t need to buy anything from VVR. We ended up purchasing a couple of Rice Crispy Treats and some Oreos for extra snacks just in case.
When we finally got to the counter to order I got the limber jack platter and Truffles got a breakfast burrito. We both ordered unlimited coffee as well. We knew our bill would be pricey since everything at VVR was expensive, but our total after tip and tax was $150. Considering all we ate for dinner and breakfast plus free camping and bathrooms/water, I think we did pretty good. We definitely saved by not taking the $20 ferry across the lake, and I was pleased by everything at VVR.
We sat outside in the porch to wait and sip on coffee. I am so grateful I got a new battery bank at KMS because my new battery charged from dead to 100% in the time we ate breakfast. When our names were finally called to get our food I was shocked by the amount that came with my order. The lumberjack platter consisted of 2 humongous pancakes that cook up an entire plate, a large side of hashbrowns, a hearty helping of scrambled eggs, sausage links, bacon, ham, and 2 pieces of toast. Even with my hiker hunger there was no way I could eat all that food! Truffles’ breakfast burrito was good but he still had room to try and help me finish all my food.
We sat with Cheesehead and Andrew and talked about our Sierra experiences and what our plans for the next sections are. When we were finished we slowly began to pack up and tried to get excited to hike out. We ended up leaving VVR around 9:30am and headed to the blue blaze to connect us back to the PCT. Yesterday we came down the Bear Ridge Trail and to get to VVR, but today we took another trail around the lake to get us back on trail.
The side trail was about 7 miles long and took us through pine forests and over rocks overlooking the lake. We had a little bit of climbing that wouldn’t have been bad expect for the fact that I was stuffed from breakfast. We were both moving slow and I thought I was going to throw up about half of the time. When I finally made it to the PCT junction I sat down to wait for Truffles and that helped to settle my stomach.
Once we were on the PCT again we had a 6 mile climb to the top of Silver Pass. According to a FarOut comment, Silver Pass is the last pass of the High Sierra! The climb was steep in sections but overall wasn’t too bad. It just felt like it took a long time and like we were moving slowly since it was afternoon when we started the ascent. In reality we were moving just fine and ended up getting up and over before 5pm. Some of the steep sections of the trail took us directly through streams and even a waterfall, so our feet were soaked and we were huffing and puffing the whole way.
We stopped to filter water by a meadow and thankfully after this point the steepness of the trail slackened off. We were able to continue climbing without gasping for breath. We crossed over rocky plateaus and finally got a good view of the pass and the mountains beyond. There was minimal snow so it made for easy hiking. We made it to the top of the pass around 4:30pm and had a final climb to the “high point” before beginning the descent.
We weren’t sure what to expect coming down the mountain, but the snow was very manageable and we were able to travel over the boot prints rather than post holing. We even got several opportunities to glissade! We were through the snow in less than a mile and weee able to cruise downhill. We had our sites set on a campsite 3ish miles from the pass, so we moseyed our way down trail.
As soon as we arrived at the Tentsite we were immediately swarmed by mosquitoes. We got the tent up as fast as we could and jumped inside. We decided to cook inside the tent in the safety of the bug net rather than being eaten alive outside. Thankfully we were careful and neither of us spilled anything inside the tent. I’ve cooked in my vestibule when it’s been raining before, but this was the first time actually sitting fully in the tent. After dinner we laid out our sleeping stuff and got ready for bed. Because of the blue blaze we hiked 16.4 total miles today.
We were able to get signal yesterday to call Hangman and get an update from him. After he and Pinky went back into Bishop on day 62, they were able to get him an xray to confirm that he does indeed have a stress fracture. We all have family coming to visit later this week, so they decided to just bop around in the meantime and then fly home with family. When we talked to him yesterday they had rented a car and we made plans for them to pick us up tomorrow from the Horseshoe Lake trailhead and take us into Mammoth for a few days before driving all of us to South Lake Tahoe to meet our family. I’m so looking forward to a few days off trial and to see family and rest!
Location: High Sierra
Start: Tentsite – 889.7
End: Mammoth Pass (Mammoth Lakes) – 904.4
Miles: 14.7
Ascent: 2501 | Descent: 2777
Sleep: Tent
Town day! Truffles and I were up and on trail around 6:30am eager to hike hard to be picked up and head into Mammoth Lakes. The trail in the morning was cruisey and we hiked along side the river and through meadows before our big climb for the day. Numerous switchbacks had us climbing up and up. We saw a family of deer as we climbed, and before long the trail flattened out and we were at the top.
We passed by Lake Virginia where the trail abruptly ended and we had to slog through the water to reach the trail on the other side. I don’t think my feet will ever be fully dry in the Sierra, but at least the rest of my body isn’t soaked like on the AT.
We hiked along the ridge line for a while before a long descent down to Purple Lake. Truffles had to dig a cat hole and we made plans to meet in a couple miles at Duck Lake. I hiked alone for a while until I passed another solo woman and we struck up a conversation. Her name was Scales and she was from Australia. We hiked together for the next several hours and I was so engrossed in conversation with her that I completely missed Duck Lake.
Scales and I hiked hard for several miles, only stopping when we were both out of water and we crossed a creek. I stopped to filter water and Truffles caught up. He was pretty aggravated that I missed our rendezvous spot at Duck Lake, so he filtered water and quickly left me in the dust. We were both heading to the same trailhead, so I let him go and knew I’d see him after while.
After filter water at the creek it was only 2 more miles in the PCT before we’d head down Mammoth Pass/Horseshoe Lake Trail down to the trailhead. They were easy miles and before I knew it I was at the junction. I was so in the zone I didn’t even see the 900 mile marker… bummer! Going down to Horseshoe Lake Trail was mostly smooth with a few ups and downs. I had expected it to be all downhill so the ups took me by surprise and I felt like I was moving slowly. I kept meeting hikers coming the opposite way, all of whom said they’d been in Mammoth and told me to have a great time in town.
As I neared McLeod Lake I began to see more and more day hikers. The trail quickly got crowded and I felt like I was playing Frogger the way I was having to doge people. It was all downhill so I was able to move fast, plus I was motivated by the potential for town food. I flew down the trail and tried to politely ask everyone in my way to let me pass.
Finally I made it down to Horseshoe Lake and was greeted in the parking lot by Truffles, Pinky, Hangman, and Pimento in a rental car. The 3 of them had been in Bishop and rented a car to come pick us up. Pinky and Hangman had hiked out of Bishop with us on day 62, but Hangman’s foot pain became unbearable and they decided to go back down into Bishop so that he could get a xray. It was confirmed that he had a stress fracture, so they hung out in Bishop for a while waiting for Pimento to hike into town since he was behind us. Once they were all together they rented a car so that we could all explore for a while. We have family meeting all of us in South Lake Tahoe in a few days, so this way we can drive to see family and all still get to be together even if we aren’t hiking together.
The 5 of us (plus our packs and bear cans) all piled into the Nissan Altima, it was a tight squeeze to say the least. They caught us up on what they’d been doing for the past few days and told them about our time in the Sierra. Pinky drove us into the town of Mammoth Lakes where we made a beeline for Distant Brewing for drinks and food. We had beer and caught up over pizza before trying to make a rough plan for our few days before going to Tahoe to see family. We decided that we’d drive out to Yosemite to spend a couple of days and we all applied for the Half Dome permits.
We left the brewery and made a quick pit stop at an RV park so that Truffles and I could take showers since we just came off the trail. We still had to put on our stinky hiking clothes, but I felt a little cleaner and more presentable. We made a trip to the grocery outlet to get food for the next few days and were on our way.
We all decided to just camp on National Forest land rather than paying for a campsite or hotel room, so we drove out of town a few miles and found a sweet little campsite thanks to Pimento’s favorite “freecampsites.net” website. We set up our tents by the car and built a small fire to roast hotdogs. It felt just like being on trail besides the fact that we kept going to the car to get stuff. It reminded me a lot of Truffles, Pimento, and I’s big road trip after the AZT in 2023 when we basically did the same thing for a month. It felt good to have our group back together.
We had enough signal to check our emails and learn that we got Half Dome permits for Monday! That means we’d head to Yosemite tomorrow to explore and then get to do the iconic hike the following day. The day after that we’ll drive to South Lake Tahoe to meet up with our families. What a fun week we have planned and a great break from the trail.
Location: High Sierra
Start: Mammoth Pass (Mammoth Lakes) – 904.4
End: Mammoth Lakes – 904.4
Miles: 0.0
Sleep: Tent
The perfect start to a vacation from trail! We woke up in the national forest close to town and broke camp. It was pretty much the same deal as when we break camp on trail, but this time we had to figure out how to fit all of our crap back into the trunk of the car. We ended up with everything in the trunk except for a bag of groceries, 2 bear cans, and a case of beer. That stuff was spread between mine, Pimento, and Truffle’s laps in the backseat.
We made a quick pit stop at some pit toilets before getting in the highway and heading towards Yosemite. It was about an hour and a half drive to the eastern entrance of the park. When we arrived there were signs saying June 15th (today) was the first day they started doing reservations for entry, but we didn’t have reservations. We weren’t sure what to expect when we pulled up to the ranger station the entrance. We told her we didn’t have reservations but we had half dome permits for the following day. She said that would work and waved us on through. At the fee station I decided to go ahead and buy an America the Beautiful pass so that Truffles and I can hopefully go explore more national parks in the fall and next spring. That got us into the park!
All of the stuff that we wanted to do, though, was on the west side of the park in Yosemite Valley. That meant we had to drive nearly 2 hours through the park to get there. The drive was pretty and it went by quickly. We stopped where the PCT crossed the road near Tuloumne Meadows because we saw our friend Bubbles crossing the road. We pulled over and talked to him for a while, we hadn’t seen him since Tehachapi. It was good to catch up and then send him on his way, hopefully we’ll run into him somewhere up the trail.
We continued our drive and finally made it down into Yosemite Valley. Our first stop was at Bridal Veil Falls. Hangman is in a boot because of his stress fracture so he can’t walk far. This short paved trail was perfect to get us close to the waterfall and easy enough for him. It was overwhelming how many people there were and annoying to deal with the crowds. It was jarring to the system after only seeing a handful of people each day. We admired the falls for a bit before getting back into the car and heading to the visitor center.
If the water fall was crowded, I don’t even know how to describe the visitor center. It was overflowing with people and hard to even think because of all the noise and commotion. I think we all felt overwhelmed and unsure of what to do with ourselves. We decided to get food from the grill and were lucky enough to snag a table in the shade. We ate quickly and took turns checking out the store and the visitor center. Pimento talked to a volunteer about what we need to do for half dome tomorrow, and we made a rough plan for the next couple of days.
We left the visitor center and drove an hour south west to Mariposa Grove. We wanted to check out the giant sequoias and decided to camp just outside the park boundary on this side. We parked at the outpost and go in line for the shuttle to the grove. Again it was super crowded and they fit 70 people on to a bus. I was grateful to get off the cramped bus and be back in the fresh air, even if there were people still bumping into me on the trail.
We took a short hike up to see the Grizzly Giant and California Tunnel Tree. The giant sequoias live up to their name and are massive! The Grizzly Giant is even as tall as the Statue of Liberty according to one sign that we read. We walked back down to catch the bus and hoped back in the car to drive out of the park.
Again Pimento found a sweet campsite for us right outside of the park on National Forest land. We set up camp and it was so buggy that we had to eat in our tents. I watched countless mosquitos swarm our tent while cooking and was thankful to be *partially* inside. We’ve got a big day tomorrow and are going to get up early to head into the park. I’m nervous about half dome just because I’m scared of heights and hope i don’t freak out. I know this is a once in a lifetime hike so I really want to do it!
