Independence to VVR

When we got back to Bullfrog campsite later in the evening, Ryan decided to SoBo 1 mile down the mountain to where trail magic was said to be. There he found food, whiskey and Rain Maker. She jumped into Ryan's arms..reunited after a week apart. The following morning, we nero'd to Rae Lakes. As it was dubbed Hike Naked Day in honor of Summer Solstice (6/21), we hiked in our skivvies. The several day hikers that we passed were wide-eyed; one woman even covering her husband's eyes. One European gave Lindsay a hug and a kiss on each cheek. We spent the afternoon fishing at Rae Lakes despite the mosquito swarms. We caught and cleaned six golden trout which later supplemented dinner. Dinner conversation included reminiscing about fishing at the farm with cousins, Steven and Andy.

6/22: Climbed Pinchot Pass, the worst of all so far. We hated our lives while climbing the longest amount of consecutive uphill miles of any High Sierras passes. The views weren't even worth it. On the way to the pass, we crossed a suspension bridge to mile 800. We used our better judgement and did not slide down the smooth granite King's Creek water slide. Lindsay gave herself a pep talk saying she had hiked over 800 miles, up Whitney, and Forester Pass, so therefore could overcome Pinchot Pass. We camped at Lake Marjorie.






6/23: Pinchot to Mather: An 8 mile stretch and short hike to the top of Mather Pass, where it was evident this would be an incredible section. Mather Pass is characterized by a string of narrow, jagged peaks. The trail overlooks The Palisade Lakes and is lined by a variety of wildflowers as it winds down the Golden Staircase (stairs cut into the mountain side dropping you deep into the valley below along with the waterfalls). We camped with Pascal that night who is traveling with two donkeys making his way along the PCT, across the Oregon Trail, down the Continental Divide, through Mexico, Central and South America, down to the tip of Chile where he intends to build a catamaran to sail the world. Check him out at longears2chile.blogspot.com. In comparison, our trek is a walk in the park. He entertained us with tales of his adventures.





6/24: Woke up to the first rain since the downpour that sent us to trail angel, Mike Harerra's place. It was a fantastic day despite the weather. We hiked within 10 feet of several deer that casually looked up from their grazing, then went back to what they were doing. The rain came down as a light sprinkle while we hiked 13 miles until stopping around 4 pm to camp. After reading in the tent, we unzipped to do evening chores and were greeted with a creepy fog that was like something out of a horror movie.


6/25: Happy two month anniversary! We got a late start waiting for the fog to clear, leaving at 10:30 am to make our way over Muir Pass. This was a great pass having no switchbacks and having several significant snow fields. We hung out in Muir Hut with other thru-hikers and had a lunch of goat cheese and crackers, Ramen noodles and salami from the hiker box...oh, yeah! Passing glacier lakes on the way, we made our way down Muir toward Evolution Lake to camp, take our first Sierra lake bath and do lake laundry. The basin is a defining feature of the Sierras. Mather to Muir still stands as our favorite section of the Sierras.






6/26: Evolution Lake to Sallie Keys Lakes: 13 glorious miles downhill. We encountered our first creek fjord due to the low rain year. We raided the hiker box at Muir Trail Ranch which yielded three Snickers bars! What?! Who in their right mind discards Snickers bars on the trail? We hiked one mile off trail to the hot springs. The muddiness of the water didn't detract from the affect on our sore muscles. It turned out that our hot springs bath was pointless because we had a sweaty 4.7 mile hike up a steep-ass hill to mosquito hell. A passerby would have thought Ryan insane had they witnessed him running with flailing arms while stripping to change into mosquito impenetrable clothes. These mutant mosquitoes bite through spandex and netting to cover you in blood sucking bumps. By the time Ryan had gotten his pants on, his legs were covered in the carcasses of squished mosquitoes.


6/27: Made our way via Seldon Pass to VVR to catch the ferry by 4:30 pm. We were treated to brownies from a trail angel. We had fish tacos for dinner and the first beer and first night's accommodations free!

6/28: "Zero" at VVR with a side trip to Mono Hot Springs. A sixteen year old boy driving his grandpa's chicken wire held together, shock lacking truck picked us up for a white knuckle ride over a broken asphalt, cliff sided road! Making it alive, we intended to meet up with Rain Maker again and pick up our packages; neither of which actually happened, so we let off steam in the springs. Since a camper had left without dousing his campfire, a forest fire hastened our exit back to VVR because we didn't want to get trapped by the fire. Only a few cars passed us, each rolling down their window to say they had no room despite their clearly empty backseats.Without a hitch, we hiked the 8 miles back to VVR redefining our zero day. Until lights out, we drowned our sorrows in beer and dinner with the now found Rain Maker.