Day 64
Selden Pass complete! Boy do I feel accomplished. Majority of this section is done and we’re heading to Vermillion Valley Resort tomorrow for a small resupply before Mammoth.
This morning when the alarm went off I was so sad. Alas, we got up and had 6.7 miles to Selden Pass. It was a long uphill battle with a traverse through a snow filled forest that felt so freaking long. We passed some lakes and threw rocks into them to crack the ice. Everyone was so beat from yesterday so we were all pretty quiet.
I was the first one to the top and the first to see sunlight today. It felt good! Honestly I just wanted to make it to camp. We did around 15 miles today so we had a little under 9 to go. Everyone was so tired you could just feel it in the air.
I led the way down the pass and am pretty proud of my navigating skills. We made it to the junction and had to filter water, which set us back a half hour. It was around 9 when we started post holing, and morale was loooow. We had to cross a river and TomTom went by a log and I didn’t feel super comfortable but stepped out on it myself. Immediately I knew I was going to fall so I just stepped right in the river right up to my mid thigh. I was NOT happy.
After that I post holed three times and got so mad that I took the rear. I listened to some music and kept telling myself that it was so early and we’d be getting to camp soon!
We made it out of the snow and things got better. We had to walk through some more rivers but I didn’t mind anymore because I was already wet and it was hot out. We pushed the last 2 miles to camp and made it before 12!
Since then I’ve had a WONDERFUL day. I stretched, washed my clothes in the nearby stream, took a nap, ate two lunches and hung out with Noah, Gil and TomTom. Looking back, Selden wasn’t too bad but just a long climb uphill. I’m so glad we’re headed to VVR tomorrow. Beers await! It’s been a LONG 7 days out here.
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Only the Young”-Taylor Swift “I’m Gonna Soak Up the Sun”-Sheryl Crow
Day 65
We all truly needed the rest day that we just took at Vermillion Valley Resort! While it’s on the pricier side, I’m so glad that we stopped here to grab a bit more food and relax after eight days in the sierra.
We slept in this morning and left camp by 6:30. I felt pretty grumpy the entire hike there – my lower back was hurting, and though my pack felt super light I was really feeling it dig into my shoulders. We had a one mile uphill climb and then took Bear Ridge Trail all the way down. There was some snow to traverse and at 7:30 we were post holing because it was so warm. The trail had some blowdowns and lots of water to try and avoid, and finally I gave in and got soaking wet. I just wanted to get there!
When we reached the bottom of the trail we had 2.5 on a dirt road to VVR. It felt much longer than 2.5, but we finally made it!
Unfortunately, lunch wasn’t for another two hours. Alas, we got a few snacks, a free beer and were able to see and chat with Lucky and Newfoundland!
We paid for wifi and I was able to talk to my parents, brother and some besties. I also got to work on my blog which felt great because I’m a bit behind.
Lunch was delicious. Double cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake. Yum.
The rest of the day was lovely. Noah and I went and washed up in the super muddy lake, hammocked, drank a few beers and relaxed. It was exactly what we needed.
For dinner we had chicken alfredo and salad. It put me right to sleep – I was so exhausted that I didn’t even journal! Just passed right out. I’m so glad we went to VVR. Also, shoutout to our amazing friends for sending us beer money. You made our time there extra extra special!
Day 66
Another easy day today, and I truly feel so well rested and happy to be so close to Mammoth!
I got up at 6 and finished my blog and chatted with my bestie Mel. Breakfast was a ton of coffee, eggs, bacon, hash browns and french toast. We lazily packed up and were headed back to trail by 10:30. Today we only did 9ish miles. Getting out of Vermillion Valley had some elevation, but it wasn’t too bad. Noah and I went pretty fast, listening to music and trying to avoid the sunlight.
We took a long break and waited for Gil and Tomtom to catch up. Tomtom had a stomachache from all the breakfast :(.
From there we hiked up for a bit towards Silver Pass. We stopped to camp just as the snow started, around 4 miles from the top. We laid in the sun and ate some food, stretched and hung out. Another relaxing day! My body feels good after intaking all of those calories, and I’m ready to get this last pass before Mammoth complete. Tomorrow we’re hoping to do 20 miles, so another 2am wake up. Here’s hoping the snow traverse isn’t too bad!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: I listened to a lot of music today – Big Booty Mix Volume 10, Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts and Endless Summer Vacation, and a Spotify playlist “Summer Hits 2025”. I love having a full charge on my phone.
Day 67
We had a longer day today- 20.3 miles! We had the loveliest surprise at lunchtime…Gaspard caught up! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
We woke up at the usual 2am. Packing up went so quickly because it’s warmer and that’s been nice to see the difference in timing! We left by 3 and almost immediately had two river crossings. Both were pretty cold, the second having a HUGE waterfall. I wish it was 10am when we did it I bet it was beautiful.
We had Silver Pass to cross today and it wasn’t anything crazy! We crossed a forest with lots of snow and then had a big climb to the top, stopping at the pass before going to High Point. It was so annoying thay it was higher than the pass but it was truly beautiful! Tomtom got a pic of us check it out-
The downhill was pretty strenuous but not super long. Then were was a big series of down, flat, up, down, cross a lake, down to another lake where we had lunch. We took a polar plunge with the three folks from the Netherlands and that is when Gaspard appeared! We were so happy to see him and him us. It was nice to have a long lunch and catch up from the past 3 weeks. He got off trail for some dental work! I laid on Noah and it was nice.
After lunch we had 8 more miles and boy they were tough. A big uphill climb, then a snowy downhill that we unfortunately needed our spikes for, then another uphill into a snowy flat area that gradually led downhill to our campsite.
We celebrated 900 miles! It felt good to do with Gaspard. I raced to the campsite and got there 20 min before everyone so I went and checked out the water situation and unpacked a bit. I felt good! Really excited to get to Mammoth tomorrow.
We all had cell reception for the first time in the sierra so we all glued to the phone a bit, had dinner, dealt with swarms of flies, then headed to bed. Our tent was filled with them it sucked and we spent a lot of time destroying every last one.
Bedtime now! I can’t wait to go to Mammoth Lakes tomorrow, I am going to eat so much food!!
Songs at the forefront of my mind: “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls”-TLC “Want You Back”-Jackson 5 and “Smooth Criminal”-Michael Jackson
Day 68
MAMMOTH WOO! We’re taking a nero here and doing a resupply. We’re staying with Gil and Tomtom and it’s been a great day!
We left by 7 and caught the 930 bus, only doing 5.5ish miles. We grabbed breakfast at the Warming Hut and I must tell you about it.
Coffee, OJ, chilaquiles and a table pancake with snickers and peanut butter that Noah and I split. All gone. Easy.
Then we headed to Mammoth Mountaineering where Noah replaced a pole and I traded in a pair of darn toughs. We walked over to Grocery Outlet, did our resupply then took the bus to the motel. The hiker box there was epic!
We checked in early, showered, did laundry, and I worked on my next blog.
Dinner was at John’s Pizza – Noah and I shared a giant and had leftovers for breakfast!
All in all a great nero day. Headed back out tomorrow around lunch.
Day 69
Another beautiful day, this one with much less snow! We woke up at six and slept till seven. I worked on my blog, took a shower, packed up and then Noah and I went to Schott’s bakery. We each got a doughnut and shared a pan of chocolate, as well as two drinks. My chai was great. I wrote my postcards and then we sent them in the mail and headed back to the motel. We caught the bus around 1115 and we were at the trailhead by noon.
The first bit back to the PCT felt pretty long even though it was kind of short. We caught up to a woman back on the PCT and it was a really beautiful section! I didn’t catch her name, but I talked to her for a bit and she flipped north from Bishop to Mammoth and is going back to do them later. We got to Red Meadows and the hot spring there was nothing to write home about so we headed to the lake.
We arrived here around 3:30 and it’s been wonderful ever since. Noah TomTom and I took a dip in the lake and then laid in the sun. Dinner was delicious and we listened to a podcast about the Donner party! We’ve been doing 15 minutes each night, Gil’s idea. A fantastic one!
Tomorrow is a relatively short day, so we’re starting at seven. I’m excited to sleep in!
Songs today: Lots of early 2000’s – “On the Way Down”-Ryan Cabrera, “I Want Candy”-Aaron Carter and “Why Can’t I?”-Liz Phair
Day 70
Our seventieth day on trail was absolutely gorgeous. It was of my favorite days in the sierra for sure!
Sleeping in felt so luxurious and we still made it to camp by 2! We only did 14 miles to about 2 miles from Island Pass and 6.7 from Donahue. Tomorrow will be a long day but I’m hoping we stick with the beautiful views/not a lot of snow situation because that’s what today was and it was everything!
We left by 7 and had a lot of gradual elevation throughout 14 miles. We finished the purple line route we took and saw the bridge that had collapsed – sheesh! We didn’t have any river crossings today so my feet stayed mostly dry.
We took a snack break at a beautiful spot with 180 views of the mountains. The last 5 miles were long but incredible. Our campsite is unreal too! I feel like I can’t truly encapsulate how beautiful today was in any way other than photos so this will be a short entry with my favorite pictures. 😊
Oh, also! Our lunch was EPIC. We packed out pickles and had tortillas with cheese, pepperoni, chips and sauce DELISH!
Songs today: “YMCA”-Village People, “Picture to Burn”-Taylor Swift and “Orange Blood”-Mt Joy
Day 71
Today was a big push over two passes (but the first one was super easy so let’s just call it one). We did around 20 miles total, started at 3am, finished by 2 and made it into Yosemite Valley (by three hitches!!) by 430pm. What. A. Day!
The night sky was absolutely spectacular when we woke up. Gil had told us there was a solar storm that night and when we got up around 2:15am it did not disappoint! The view of the Milky Way was incredible, and though I didn’t see any shooting stars, I seriously enjoyed eating my pop tart while gazing above me. (Side note, I’ve probably seen 5 shooting stars on trail so far but haven’t reported on it. Magnificent!)
We had 6.7 to the top of Donahue, the second pass. The first few miles were pretty snow free, but we had one uphill snowy part that was super slick so we wore our spikes for majority of it.
Island Pass was our first and it didn’t even feel like a pass. We summited in darkness and by the time we were heading down I realized we had made it to the top. It was not super memorable or exciting and that is okay!
From Island Pass we had a bit of downhill before going back up and over Donahue. The sun rose as we traversed a beautiful rocky forest area, and we passed someone sleeping in what looked like a beautiful spot!
Donahue also felt pretty easy though we panted our way up. I loved climbing up, seeing the way the pass sloped down wit all of the rocks and ice water melting beneath the snow. I was the first one to the top and LOVED seeing that we were entering Yosemite Wilderness! Having been to Yosemite, it takes on a whole new meaning knowing we’ve walked from the border to here. I cannot fathom it, yet I also can because it was my legs that got me here.
Down Donahue we went, through a steep snow field and onto the path, which was carved out of the ridgeline with lots of water flowing over the rocks. It was so beautiful!
We crossed a river and continued downwards until we reached the best part of the day – no snow, in a meadow! We split up and walked alone through the meadow, stopping for lunch and being attacked by mosquitos unfortunately. From there we had another 5 miles and we knocked them out in an hour and a half. It’s crazy what we can do without snow!
We reached Tioga Road by 2:15 and found our first hitch into Yosemite Valley by 2:30. What luck! And even better, it was in the back of a pickup truck! The views were immaculate, even if we got rained on for a bit. It was a long ride but we got dropped off at Crane Flat gas station and had to find another hitch.
Two gals picked us up and drove us to Bridalveil Falls. From there we walked on the road for maybe 2 minutes with our thumbs out before another guy in a van pulled up. Seriously, what luck! He drove us to Curry Village where we grabbed beers and burritos and sat at a table for two hours. It felt so good to relax.
We headed out around 6 to the backpackers camp, set up and went back to Curry Village for some showers. They were super busy so Noah and I gave up and went back to the market for cookies.
All in all, a wonderful day. I’m excited to sleep in and have a zero tomorrow. 20 miles and a hitch 1.5 hours into the valley ending with beers, burritos and ice cream! One of my favorite trail days so far.
Songs today: “It’s a Beautiful Day”-U2, “Cosmic Love”-Florence and the Machine and “Jenny Jenkins”-Mt JOYYYY
Week 10 was a beautiful one! It was surreal hiking to Yosemite. I can’t believe I walked from the border to Tuolomne Meadows! Hiking with Gil and Tomtom has been such a fun adventure and it’s so nice to all be on the same page with waking up, traversing snow and taking breaks. I’m excited to finish out the sierra with them and keep adding more and more miles each day! As always, thanks for following along on our adventure and excited to continue with next week’s post. Hugs!
