6/20/14
Mileage: 949- 968
Miles: 19
Feeling fishy today! Great walk through the forest. Feels good to be getting back to some familiar areas of Yosemite. Miss you dad, we need to explore around here some more. Killer left us at breakfast, love you buddy, good hangin with you for a couple days. Spent most of the day without Bryan, we were on different paces.
After all the talk and signs from the clouds tht we were going to catch fish, no fish at the lake for lunch. Nice walk through low passes and pink granite. I sometimes think I am walking through a dream when I look around and gaze at all the granite that looks like clouds reflecting the last rays of pink sunlight in the high country. Easy walking, beautiful meadows at every turn, rolling granite mountains....adventure all around. Every direction is an adventure waiting to be had.
We found an amazing camp with a view at the edge of a basin meadow and we enjoyed an incredible sunset with whiskey passed and cheers exclaimed. Solstice tomorrow! And naked hikin day.
Milage: 19.5
Miles: 968-987.5
HAPPY SOLSTICE!! Aka: hike naked day!
Bugs: awfulllllll
Loveliest morning! We are finally in the thick of the Yosemite pink granite and it feels so good!!
We are meandering through the most beautiful valleys, meadows and boulder fields. The passes have multiple lakes and the streams are so amazing.
Yum, Boombox and I had a breakfast near a creek while swatting mosquitoes the whole time. Once we got moving again, everything was fine and they went away... Or so we though
The day was beautiful and you well as we made our way to camp at Wilma Lake when suddenly we were swarmed by a billion mosquitoes. I'm not kidding you, they were insane. Stop for one second and you can barely see your skin because it's covered in mosquitoes.
I was on the verge of tears, out of frustration, so we immediately made a smokey camp fire which helped.
I stoked the fire while Boombox went and caught some delicious trout for dinner. It ended up being a wonderful night.
6/22/14
Mileage: 987.5- 1007
Miles: 19.5
Horrible morning of Mosquitos. Hiking in rain gear....hot as fuck! Left Yosemite with a little sadness in our hearts. The heart of the sierras are now behind us.....they came and went so fast. Dramatic change of mountains, reddish-brown with strange formations on top. Dusty trails and funky water. Great lunch break with foot baths and safety meetings. Yum's feet were hurting him so he couldn't sit for too long or he wouldn't be able to fit his feet in his shoes again. Good cruise to tunes for te last 5 miles of the day. We played Rummy 500 at an early camp with a raging fire. Tons of junk food and everything must go meals.
We had such a great time walking with Yum for the last couple hundred miles. I love that man, one of the best for sure. He will be missed on the trail, it was an honor and a privilege to walk with you brother.
6/23/14
Miles:11 to Sonora Pass
Milage: 1007-1018
News: said goodbye to Bryan :(
Weather: perfectly sunny and warm
Friends with us: yum (Bryan)
How long it took to hitch to Bridgeport: approx 1.5 hours
Completely blown away by the beauty and views this morning. We are saying goodbye to the heart of the Sierras as we move forward to a whole new kind of wilderness. We are headed for the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness full of less dramatic mountains, red soil and white granite. Leaving this section was sad.... But we'll be back.
Perfect breakfast spot with breathtaking views
Walked through the last bit of snow patches on the mountain sides
Got to Sonora pass!
1.5 hours to hitch to Bridgeport. Got a ride from a couple from India and then got a ride with a man from a tribe down in Bishop, hitching is always interesting.
Said goodbye to Bryan as he continued to Mammoth. We already miss him!!
Picked up our box of goodies and sent away our bear canisters!!!!
Burgers at the Burger barn... YUM!!!
Mammoth Brewing beers at the Sportmen bar while we organized things, called our families and relaxed
Caught a ride out of Bridgeport to a camp ground about a mile down the 108.
6/24/14
Mileage: 19.5
Miles: 1018.5- 1038
Left our campsite in a hurry on order to avoid the camp host....oops. Hitched 5 miles up the 108 then waited for three and a half hours!!! No one would pick is up, I was blown away. So many cars with one or two people in them passed is by. We are obviously hikers that aren't scary at all...just a little stinky. Eventually Rock-Ocean picked is up in his VW Bus and room is to the pass, what a wonderful guy. Rock-Ocean is out here from the east just to follow the bubble up the PCT and drive people around who new rides while off the trail. He's a cool dude.
After our hitch we are a late breakfast/early lunch and then hit the trail. The walk was so beautiful today through the brownish-red rock mountains, wildflower fille meadows, and amazing panoramic views along the ridges we walked on through out the day. The brownish-red mountains changed back to the beautiful pink granite that I have come to know the sierras for. It seemed as though the valley we walked down for a section of the day was a dividing line between the two different kinds of rock formations. I am very interested to learn some of the geology and formation of these mountains.
Although our friends Killer and Yum will be missed, it felt good to get back into Glitter Bug and I's rhythm and have some time some with the love of my life. What a women she is! She is the motivator and a great pace setter....I love her so much and I am forever grateful for the time we share on the trail. We had a dinner on the trail before pushing another 3 miles to camp. We were both very please to have come almost 29 miles hen we started after noon! Stoked for this section, seems like its a hidden treasure in the sierras. Boom!!!
6/25/14
Milage: 24
Miles: 1038-1062
TRAIL MAGIC AT EBBETS PASS!!!
Soundtrack: railroad earth and... Phish. Of course.
Weather: perfect
Bugs: minimal Mosquitos. Thank goodness.
Completely blown away by this beautiful section. So many wildflowers and cool rock formations. Ran into Chipmunk at the pass doing trail magic! Special K cereal, cold milk and juice and chili over eggs!!!! Wow! First trail magic since Walker pass!
6/26/14
Mileage:16
Miles: 1062- 1078
Woke up to rain....hard to pack up when the tent is what I pack in the bottom of my pack. After a tedious pack-up we hit the trail with all of our rain gear on. The first 5 miles were quick and easy and we stayed relatively dry. The next 8 miles after breakfast were insane. The wind and rain picked up as we climbed out of the trees and into the open, bald, alpine country. At times it felt as if the wind was going to blow us right off the mountain and it was an amazing feeling to experience the awesome power of nature, biting and blowing at our faces.
Once my rain skirt was soaked through, it was very difficult to walk and my knees were aching from the cold.the clouds were flying by us at an alarming rate and we could see more that 20 feet in any direction, which made it seem as if we were floating on an island through the tumultuous sky. Glitter Bug's rain coat hardly gives her any protection so she was soaked and cold early in the hike. Once we dipped back down into the tree line we set the tent up for a lunch break and to get dry and warm. Glitter bug is such a tough women, that was intense weather to walk through!
After a long lunch break, the weather cleared a little an we walked 5 more miles to Carson Pass where the trail crosses a highway. We were only planning on taking a quick break and pushing on for a 25 mile day, but a trail angel named Mike happened to be there asking if there were any hikers that needed a ride into town. We opted to take the ride and slack pack the rest of the hike to Echo Lake tomorrow. Mike gave us a ride to the motel 6 in South Lake Tahoe and we got a cheap room
We ate our backpacker food I. The hotel room and lounged on the bed all evening sharing wine an cheese. It was nice to be warm and clean and relax all evening. Tomorrow we will slack-pack and take more time to relax in Tahoe! Woot woot! What a beautiful life! Thank you Mike!
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