Tag: thruhiking

Day 31: Wolf Creek Tributary to Ebbet’s Pass

Every year my college friend Kaitlin plans a camping trip for her birthday, and this year the site she picked at Grover Hot Springs just so happened to be not too far off the PCT. I had some extra time to relax in the morning before meeting her and her fiance Scott where the trail crosses Highway 4 at Ebbet’s Pass, so I decided to make the most of it. I enjoyed a hot breakfast of instant oatmeal and tea, a nice break from my standard cliff bar. Taking a leisurely pace through forest that began to look more and more like where I grew up in Lake Tahoe, I passed a couple of small lakes before climbing up to a saddle with some nice views above Noble Lake.

After several days hiking more or less alone on the trail and the physical and emotional challenges of the past week, I was very excited to meet up with an old friend and spend a couple of nights hanging around a fire in an established campground. I got to the rendezvous point an hour early and waited on a rock by the side of the road. When Kaitlin finally pulled in to the trailhead, I jumped in the car and we drove the short distance past the tiny town of Markleeville to the campground. Thruhiking definitely makes you appreciate the small luxuries of potable water, toilets and fire pits, and a real cooked meal. Our friends Carlin and Sara joined the party a couple of hours later. Seeing my old friends really lifted my spirits and we happily shared a few beers while catching up around the campfire.

Day 25: Rosalie Lake to Donahue Pass

It is very easy to lose track of the days when thru-hiking. Almost every day has the same pattern: wake up, eat, hike, eat, hike, eat, sleep. This tendency can have a meditative effect as you lose yourself in the trail, but can also lead to trouble when you have shipped a box of food ahead to a small-town post office, end up getting there at 5:01 pm on a Friday and are then stuck waiting until it opens again Monday morning to retrieve your box.

Thankfully I never had this issue, but as we approached Garnet and Thousand Island Lakes on the JMT we started seeing inordinate numbers of backpackers, many fresh-faced and with dogs in tow. As I happily watched the dogs rollick around in the snow, I wondered aloud, “Wow, there really seem to be a lot of people on the trail today.” Duh, of course, it must be the weekend! On this sunny Saturday in late July the trail was filled with weekenders, out on two-to-three day treks to enjoy the alpine lakes.

They chose a good spot to visit. We sat down at the narrow end of Thousand Island Lake to eat lunch, gazing across the serene blue water to the granite islands and snowy peaks on the other side. A few fishing lines broke the surface, as intrepid hikers cast about looking for mountain trout. Lying down on the grass in the warm sun, I dozed off in alpine paradise.

Day 24: Red’s Meadow to Rosalie Lake

After a leisurely breakfast at the eponymously named Breakfast Club, I loaded up on tortillas and ramen at Grocery Outlet and we caught the bus back to Red’s Meadow. A slight detour led us through Devil’s Postpile National Monument, a large jumble of hexagonal basalt columns jutting out of the landscape akin to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Feeling slightly out of place with our big backpacks amidst the crowd of car tourists, we didn’t linger long and quickly crossed another swollen creek back into the wilderness.

Since Mount Whitney, the PCT had traced the same route through the High Sierra as the shorter (but no less famous) John Muir Trail. Just north of the Postpile, however, the two trails split for about 14 miles with the PCT following a higher ridgeline and the JMT plunging along a lower route next to a series of lakes. As Meredith had a JMT permit and the lake route appeared to offer more interesting scenery, we chose to take it and were rewarded with a beautiful campsite atop a rocky bluff overlooking Rosalie Lake. It was the perfect place to watch the sunlight fade over the granite dome across the way, fish leaping into the air for an insect dinner below.

Day 23: Duck Lake Outlet to Red’s Meadow

The way to the small resort at Red’s Meadow led past a friendly trail crew clearing downed trees and into a large burn zone, the result of a fire sparked by lightning back in 1992. Between the burnt out husks of pine and fir a colorful milieu of purple lupine and white and yellow flowers bloomed, attracting a somewhat alarming number of bees. Hustling under the hot sun, we arrived at Red’s Meadow just in time to enjoy a delicious pastrami and swiss sandwich, the start of a hedonistic bender that would define my time in Mammoth.

Ten days in the mountains can really work up a hiker’s appetite, and as soon we got set up with a room at the Motel 6 in town I proceeded to gorge myself on a truly disgusting amount of food and drink. Coffee, pizza, donuts, beer, whiskey; everything was fair game in my rush to enjoy the fruits of civilization. Unfortunately for my stomach, the extreme mix of foods, caffeine, and alcohol had a rather unsettling effect and I spent most of the later evening in the hotel bathroom. But for those few hours hopping through town from cafe to pub, I was in heaven.

Day 13: Independence

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We spent the night at the aptly-named Courthouse Motel. I was glad for the opportunity to shower and wash my clothes (especially my stiff-as-cardboard socks), and even happier to enjoy a hot meal at a fancy French restaurant that for some reason graces the otherwise deserted town of Independence. The next morning we resupplied at the local Shell gas station, paying inflated prices to load up on ramen, jerky, oatmeal, and other such backpacking sundries. Meredith had also shipped a box of food to the small post office, which we divvied up between us.

We rearranged our backpacks as the temperature rose in the surrounding desert. A group of hikers took turns standing in the hot sun, trying to hitch a ride back up to Onion Valley. After two hours of trying they were still there, which did not bode well for our own hitching prospects. I walked out of the motel courtyard dreading the long, uncomfortable wait. But we lucked out again, as a thru-hiking couple from Wisconsin spotted us walking to the intersection and immediately picked us up on their way to stash some food supplies in the bear boxes at the trailhead. We camped out on a high escarpment just below Kearsarge Pass, packs and bellies full and ready for the trail ahead.