Watery Dreamy

Monday, June 23
Mile 956, McCabe Creek in Yosemite Nat'l Park

Reunited with gypsy town at long last, we took a lazy morning to ease out of a late night at the fire in Tuolumne Meadows. I decided not to go into the valley - I'd rather come back and climb anyway, and not during peak tourist season. Even on a Monday morning, the parking lot at Tuolumne was swarming with people in clean-cut tees and boat shoes. I'm also not eager to lose the group I've been chasing this past week.

Tuneboost and the falling water. This is what I live for out here!

Lunch was swimming and sunning at Glen Aulin, some beautiful falls. It's the first water I've been able to swim in for longer than a few seconds. So glorious to be able to rinse off after a hot morning!

A cruisy afternoon, ending with our epic campsite near a roaring stream in a granite canyon. It tried to steal my cookpot while I was bending over trying to fill it, but I managed to leap in after it and save it-- and completely soak myself. At least I have fire, and campfire stories, and friends. Aw, I've missed them!

Mammoth

Friday, June 20
Mile ??, Near Devil's Postpile

Horses.. Nurturing my soul since 1991. Red's is a packer's camp just off trail.

Started my morning at Red's Meadow right with a soak in the hot springs that a local named Bobcat dug out above the campground. Then breakfast at the cafe, then starting the long series of shuttle rides to get into Mammoth Lakes. I managed to catch Red Bandit before he started hitching north for a family reunion, and spent the morning with him. He's getting back on trail at Lone Pine after finally recovering from an Achilles injury, and has promised to catch up.. We'll see!

Spent most of the afternoon loitering in front of Erik Schaat's bakery with Gage, eating delicious sandwiches and talking with whoever stopped by. One of these happened to be the father of the doctor in Bishop who looked at my infected foot, strangely enough.

I was anxious to get back on trail knowing that my group was just a half day ahead, so I called up a trail angel who had left her number on a piece of cardboard on trail. Sugar Mama, in all her glory, picked me and the Hoff up from the post office and carted us all the way back to Red's. From there, I met up with Billy Jack, Beeline, the Hoff, Banana Boat, Che, and the Animal. Like the herd we are, we rolled off into the wild.

RIP Sony Cybershot

Thursday, June 19
Mile 926?, Red's Meadow

Today was rough. I'm too exhausted for details, but the big thing is that my camera is now sitting in a watery grave some miles before Silver Pass. It was sitting in a hip belt pocket with a broken zipper as a stumbled over a waterfall going over the trail. I dropped my trekking pole and when I bent to pick it up, out tumbles my camera, plopping unceremoniously and irretrievably into the swirling stream.

My camera's watery grave

800 miles of pictures, gone just like that... It's hard to accept, but what else can I do? At least I still have phone pictures, but I'm bummed. Out of spite, I hauled another 28-miler to Red's Meadow. At least tomorrow will bring some good meals and friends to lighten the load.

Sunset just before Reds. Made it! If only out of frustration.

Girl Make Fire

Wednesday, June 18
Mile 879, Mono Creek

Selden Pass, with lakes like sapphires against tawny peaks.

Whew, the Sierras are no joke! Over 4,000 feet of climbing today, and I'm pretty well exhausted from the last couple days. A pass a day is a tough schedule to sustain, but hopefully a zero is in my future for Mammoth Lakes. Rest will be so welcome!

Selden was gorgeous, and the easiest pass so far--no snow to deal with, just gorgeous lakes. Caught up with a sister duo at lunch today who I haven't seen in five hundred miles; Half Dome and GI Joyce. Also, Paja, who's hiking the trail barefoot. A plus to taking a week off is all the people I get to catch up with.

Believe it or not, tonight my first night camping alone this whole trip! It's nice, though. I made a fire and read some Mark Twain that Thumby passed to me. I thought it might freak me out a little to be by myself at first, but I feel safe and content out here. The trail is my home.

Blockages and how to break them

Tuesday, June 17
Mile 858, San Joaquin River

The morning haul up Muir Pass was snowy and unrelenting, yielding a few false summits as I panted my way up. With Trailblazer in front finding some semblence of a trail among the snow, though, I summited by noon and hung out in the amazing little shelter at the top.

All afternoon I dragged, and figured I was just worn out after our 25-miler yesterday... Until at some point in the late afternoon, fed up, tired, emotional, I sat down and cried for a good few minutes. Not like a bad cry, just a cleansing cry. The Sierras are tough and beautiful, and so moving in every direction.

After that, whatever was causing a blockage let up and I got the biggest second wind. I practically skipped across Evolution Creek, a big ford, and continued skipping in sopping wet shoes for five more miles. I stopped, thought about my energy, and figured, why not? Another 4. And badda boom, 28 miles today! Just like that!

Found Spirit Fingers and his crew, who I hung with a couple weeks ago. Campfire and warmth to end amother big day.

Walk in Beauty

Monday, June 16
Mile 831, South Fork Kings River

Pinchot Pass at 5:30am

Wow. Big day. Two passes and 25 miles. Probably the most stunning of my hike so far. I was alone at the top of Pinchot Pass this morning at 6am, watching the sun slowly swath the mountains in gold.

All dat Sierra granite.. Yum.

All morning I had numbers in my head as I fretted over making it ten miles to the next pass before 11am, when the snow would start to get slushy and unruly. Of course it was fine, and I shared some whiskey sips with Sprinkle and Butterfly, two other lady hikers, before picking my way down the snowy north side.

I am a responsible bear canister-er.

The afternoon was glorious; sometime I realized that I didn't even have to think about pace and mileage. I would just get there, and it would be the right time. About a mile from my campsite I stopped to stare across the valley at a huge waterfall and had a teary moment. Intense gratitude for where I am, and that my body feels so healthy, and that I have people I love in front and behind me, and that right now it's just me and I'm happy with that.

The last few miles, a song T-Bow tried to teach me turned over and over in my wandering mind. I can never remember the tune, so the words just echo like a mantra:

I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me.
Beauty is behind me,
Above and below me.

Who builds a suspension bridge in the middle of the Wilderness?

Sunday, June 15
Mile 806, just under Pinchot Pass.

Kearsarge yesterday evening

I'm on Pass schedule now; strategically planning my days so that I only do passes in the morning. Otherwise, I'm postholing and spitting curses for hours through endless snowfields. Today's Pass was Glen, which Yogi described in her guidebook as being the steepest and scariest. I hit it at around 8, and passed hordes of John Muir Trail hikers on the way down, so doing it alone wasn't so bad. I have microspikes, miniature crampons, for my shoes, so ice is no biggy. Fun pass morning!

Glen Pass

Leapfrogged with Thumby most of the day, and now we're camped together right below Pinchot Pass. I caught a hitch in with him to the Trailhead yesterday, so we're bonding.

It feels kinda fun and free to hike solo and make all my own calls. It's a full moon in Sagittarius this month, so I'll take it as a sign. High time for some vision questing! Couldn't have picked better testing grounds for my newfound confidence out here.

Wild onion bagel! Nomnom

Seriously, who?!

Tomorrow's gonna be a big day-- two passes before lunch, and then hauling my ass up to the next pass, which is supposed to be a big one, for the following day. Phew! The toe's feeling great, but I'm readjusting to the altitude. Whatever!! Bring it! 25 miles let's do it!

Departure!

Saturday, June 14
Bishop

Leaving! Finally! Toe feels good. I feel good. Two hitches and 7 miles of Pass til I'm back on the PCT! Let's do this!

still hangin'

Wednesday, June 11
Bishop still.

Resting up at Hostel California

The rest of Gypsy town has finally caught up! Much relaxation and catching up and quinoa salad and singing. They're staying tomorrow, too, so maybe I'll be well enough to leave with them?

Hostel California! Love this place.

Either way, fun times to be had for the next few days. Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to take a looong break.

Infected

Monday, June 9
Bishop, CA

Yup, infected toe. Antibiotics for ten days. No hiking til I can walk without hobbling.

Soak. Elevate. Repeat.

T-Bow's foot is reinfected. The Zone has a weird skin thing on her leg. We are team infection! At least this hostel is awesome and we are suffering together!

Upside: Chimney Sweep made me an Irish breakfast! Ymm

The most beautiful day

Sunday, June 8
Mile 788, Bishop CA

Forester Pass this morning, celebration at the summit with whiskey and photoshoots. One peek onto the dawnlit north side made us proud of our decision to do this crossing in the morning when the snow was hard... Cause boy, there was a lot of snow. I pulled on my microspikes for the first time and worked my way down, keeping an eye out for the trail as it dipped below snow and reappeared far off down the slope.

With Kearsarge Pass included, it was the most stunning scenery I've seen on the trail. The forest was full of rushing streams and all the life they bring with them, and the jagged snow-capped ridges loomed ever-present around us.

Getting into Bishop was a breeze with all the day hikers coming down Kearsarge. I've been to Bishop and knew that the first place we had to hit was Erik Schaat's Bakery. As T-Bow, Zone and I sat outside and chatted with locals and tourists and tried to figure out where we'd stay tonight, Smooth Operator came sauntering by wearing a Hostel California T-shirt. He told us that the hostel we'd been hearing about had just opened a couple days ago, and gave us some rough directions on how to find it.

The hostel is amazing. More on that later!

 Only down of today: My toe is infected. Big time. Gotta get in to the clinic tomorrow.

Snow Travel 101

Saturday, June 7
Mile 788, just South of Forester Pass

So we go... There? T-Bow scoping the highest point on the PCT; Forester Pass

The High Sierra comes with a whole new bag of challenges. You can read the same advice over and over again (do passes in the morning or you'll be slogging through melting snow for miles, keep your shoes on for creek crossings, air your feet out), but it takes experiencing these discomforts for oneself before one becomes savvy to the nuances of mountain travel. We had big plans to charge the 12 miles from Crabtree Meadows to Forester this morning and hit the pass before noon. We got to the base of Forester at 1:30 and had already been postholing (breaking through soft snow) to our waists for two miles.

Chillin on Snow Island

Glimmer had already posted herself up at the base with plans to hike the pass in the morning, when the snow would be harder and postholing wouldn't be a concern. The Zone, T-Bow and I squinted up at the pass, and, feeling stubborn, slogged another hundred yards with the intent to push through the pass.

The Zone slowly stopped, looked back, and told us she was uncomfortable doing the pass this afternoon. We couldn't see the north side, which was sure to have some sketchy snowfields and a possibly steep descent. It could be miserable at best, and dangerous at worst. T-Bow and I were quick to side with her, and we managed to pitch camp on a tiny spit of rock and gravel. We'd wait til morning. The Ambassador, Billy Jack, and Beeline ended up joining us for the night and laughing at me as I struggled to pitch my Tarptent without stakes... Eventually I was triumphant!

Billy Jack and Beeline giving us commentary as we watch some poor soul inch up the Pass.

I'm grateful to Zone for speaking up. Whether or not the pass turns out to be challenging, we can know that we made a smart and conservative  decision to hold back. We put ourselves at enough risk out here; no reason to put the odds against ourselves when we could easily wait and have a much easier and safer go of it. I love traveling with women.

Whitney

Friday, June 6
Mile 767, Crabtree Meadow (again)

Lilac predawn as we head for Whitney.

Today feels surreal. 3am wakeup, instant coffee mixed with granola, headlamps in place, and my three-woman team headed for the summit of Mt. Whitney. At 14,505 feet, it's the highest mountain in the lower 48. And it's only a 9-mile hike off the PCT. How could I resist?

The image of the ascent that stands out is the silhouetted amphitheater of ridges against the stars, reflected in on the glassy surface of Timberline Lake.

T-Bow is a snow ninja!

And then the climb! The altitude nearly got me, but we summited around 8am to a 360 panorama of peaks, all freshly lit gold. We hung out at the top with a couple groups of day hikers, along with Billy Jack and Beeline, two ex-ATers we've been leapfrogging with this section. Relish and Toto arrived later, and when we told them we were running low on food they told us they would leave a bag with a bunch of their extra food at our camp! So sweet of them.

The view from the top of the continental US!

When I came back down to Guitar Lake at the base of Whitney, I found The Zone staring intently in the river. A few minutes later, she plunged her hands in and after some struggling and laughing, pulled out a fat, writhing trout! While she held it still, I killed it mercilessly with a rock, probably helped by my hunger. Gratitude to these fish, of course! After an hour, T-Bow and I each caught our own fish, and we strutted back to our base camp with our haul, feeling like badass mountain women. Early dinner of pasta from Relish and trout we snagged ourselves and fried up in coconut oil and fresh garlic from Billy Jack? Bliss.

Trout trout trout yumyumyum

We later found out from Bunyan that the fish were probably illegal to catch and keep, as native gold trout. I felt a little remorse, but was less bothered by the information than I would have been before the hike. I think it stems from a sense of home on the trail. In my mind, I'm as entitled to those fish as the bears. I'm no longer a visitor to these places I'm moving through; I belong there. Of course that doesn't mean that I'm abandoning all Leave no Trace ideals, but it does change the way I view and interact with these wild places. And those trout were freaking delicious.

Disney Meadow

Thursday, June 5
Mile 767, Crabtree Meadow

Sunset over Crabtree Meadows

The Zone, T-Bow and I all felt the altitude this morning. Up until last night, we did the hike high, sleep low technique for dealing with all our elevation gain, and it's worked. But we camped at 11,300 ft last night and were moving pretty slow. When we got to our lunch spot 2,000 ft lower, we were giddy with oxygen. Here's the product, after finding some (only canned) food left for hikers from last winter's snow surveyor:

I Love Lakes

Wednesday, June 4
Mile 751, Chicken Spring Lake

Sitting' pretty here at 11,200 feet. The Sierras are as demanding as they are beautiful, but I'm adjusting and loving them!

Left foot is giving me grief again, so I performed a little insole surgery to give it more room. Hopefully it holds up okay til Lone Pine in a few days. All in all though, the feet have been total champs. Gratitude to you, feeties!

Chicken Spring Lake. No chickens; too cold.

Hurtled myself into an alpine lake at The Zone's encouragement, and it was glorious and mind-numbingly cold. We ended up camping there, and took a leisurely afternoon and 7:00 bedtime. I love sleeping with the sun and waiting for it to hit me in the morning to wake up. Much more cooperative, I think.

Slow it Down

Tuesday, June 3
Mile 731, Death Canyon

So this is the High Sierra! After a morning fire and subsequent lingering, I set off and climbed for what seemed like hours... Nope, only five miles. I was exhausted, and so was everyone else at our first spring. And then we realized that we had just climbed 2000 feet, putting us at 9800 for elevation. Whew! The altitude explains our exhaustion, and the next ten miles gave us our first up-close look at the highest peaks around. I also saw a weasel-y creature that Glimmer thinks was a mongoose. (ETA: not a mongoose. A pine martin. Mongeese eat cobras. Luckily there are no cobras here.)

The Zone, T-Bow and I are calling it quits after 15 miles today. Feeling a little guilty about that, considering our norm before Sierras was 25, but we're chalking it up to altitude. We're also only a day or two out from Mt Whitney, and are really hoping that Laugh Track, Magic Stick, Tuneboost and their friend Wiley catch up by then. Regardless, we're in for some amazing views tomorrow and I am so excited!

Solo-ish Sierra Dreamin'

Monday, June 2
Mile 716, South Fork Kern River

I'm coming' for ya, High Sierras!

I've decided that on nights that I don't feel like rehashing a whole day of details, I'll write a poem. If I'm really lazy, it might be someone else's poem. But tonight the Haikus are mine! (Channeling Kerouac here)

Sierra dreamin'
I intend to leave alone
But find tribes in pines.

Trout over fire blaze
Laughter lights the dimming day
Gypsy town divides. 

(And still kicks ass)

Kennedy Meadows

Saturday and Sunday, May 31-June 1
Mile 702, Kennedy Meadows General Store

Taking a long rest and goofing off with the hikers in my bubble on the porch of Kennedy Meadows General Store. A night at the bar down the road and live music by a couple fellow hikers, complete with dancing and gossiping and a game of throwing pigs? Necessary. Three pints of ice cream in 48 hours? Needed. Stargazing and chess and dancing on a dark porch to 90s hits? Bliss.

Too much fun. No pictures but many memories.

High on a Hill

Friday, May 30
Mile 676, Somewhere in the Sierras

Three big climbs today, fueled by Yogi's chocolate chip banana pancakes (and coffee). I connected with Jackalope, one of the ladies helping with the Walker Pass Magic. Such a cool lady whose current passion is cob houses. I pitched Ekone camps to her for her son, so maybe our paths will cross again in an awesome way!

Hippie alert

Feeling buoyant and strong today, and starting to get an itch to break away from my group for a couple days. I might have that opportunity in Kennedy Meadows in a couple days, since most of my group wants to double zero and I could just take off a day earlier. Operating under my own schedule, seeing some new faces, stopping to gape into the vast panoramas whenever it suites me... We'll see where the wind blows me.

Vortexed at Walker

Thursday, May 29
Mile 650, Walker Pass

Magic! Glorious, delicious magic! I was greeted at Walker Pass after a 13-mile morning with applause, a cold drink, and all the people I've been tailing for the past few days. These stops always feel like a family reunion, and everyone has stories to share.

The famous Yogi of Yogi's Guidebook was there, along with Jackalope and her son Bearbait, who greeted our arrival with a cold soda and Mardi gras beads. Laugh Track and I showered in an awkward squat in a roadside spring, which was heavenly. Total relaxation after a tough, dry stretch. Maybe we'll stay awhile..

ETA: we stayed the night and had Yogi's chocolate chip banana pancakes for breakfast. Holy yum.