To Have and To Hike: June 2016

Phew, what a section: delicate log crossings over swollen streams, tough navigation between the trail and footprints in the rapidly melting snow, steep scree fields and huge miles. We couldn't be happier to be writing this from the comforts of Jenny's brother Tim and his wife Heather's lovely Tahoe home.

I'll pick up where Jenny left off: the Woah Nellie Deli (WND > WMD). Sorry, I couldn't help it. Contrary to the hour and a half or so we waited for a hitch out of Yosemite, getting back in was easy. In less than five minutes a car pulled over to give us a lift in. The drivers were two 18 year olds from New Jersey who were on a road trip on a dare from some friends. They were off the East Coast for their first time. Naturally, picking up hitch-hiking PCT hikers was another notch in a journey that included a caffeine-fueled 48 hour trip across the country with short breaks to sleep in Walmart parking lots. Oh if only I had known how to drive when I was 18... or even 25... (insert Jenny eye roll).

The hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin was spectacular: a gorgeous meadow with a lazy river and granite mountains in the distance, and incredible waterfalls. The rub: mosquitoes. Though, to be fair, mosquitoes were out in swarms this whole section every time we were below treeline. Glen Aulin wasn't yet open to the public when we went by, but it looks like an awesome little tent camp for those who are less backpacking inclined or just want someone else to cook for them.

Tuolumne meadow

Again

Yet another

Yosemite rocks

Tuolumne falls rainbow!

It was a tough 9 miles to camp: less because of the terrain, and more because of the pitcher of mango margaritas we had enjoyed at the WND. To put the weirdness of the day in perspective, we hiked 18 miles despite taking a break from hiking between 9:45am and 4:45pm. Let that sink in.

We decided around then that we wanted to speed up so that we could take a zero at Tim and Heather's in Tahoe and still make it to Chester before our wedding (approximately mile 1,330 from mile 942). It turns out the miles from Tuolumne to Sonora Pass don't exactly lend themselves to big miles.

The next day we intended to crank out 25 miles. We made it 22, and it was hard. We had >5 stream crossings where we had to take off our shoes and put on our Crocs. Each crossing takes about 20 minutes in total when you consider taking off our packs, removing our gaiters and shoes, putting on our Crocs, crossing carefully, drying off and putting on our shoes back on. Even when we were able to find logs to cross streams, it takes time to find the logs that might be 200 feet up or down stream, and then go over one at a time.

** Moms -- don't read this paragraph!! There were a handful of streams that would have involved strong currents up to our chests had we not found logs. We later heard stories of people being swept downstream several yards in some of the gnarlier crossings. The logs themselves pose some risk (as Breakfast Sandwich can attest): they can be a couple feet above the water, may be slippery, and always require careful balance. Remarkably, we had no issues, though sometimes we crossed the logs barefoot to get a better grip.

One of many crossings

The snowmelt led to the trail turning into a stream many times, waterfalls cascading over the trail, and fun muddy meadows with inches of water covering all possible footpaths in a twenty-foot radius. We rather prefer to keep our feet dry not enjoying trench foot or blisters, which means that all of these obstacles contributed to slowing us down.

Trail = stream

Trail = waterfall

The other side of the water of course was the snow, which was melting rapidly. (For those who aren't in California, we have had a heatwave in the past two weeks. The poor folks in the desert saw temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.) There were three passes in this section that we had heard had some tricky snow: Benson, Sonora and Dicks. The first, Benson, was a mess. The melting snow left gaps between the tracks in the snow that we were following, and it turns out that lots of prior hikers had gotten lost in this section. What this meant for us: kicking steps up a double black diamond pitched slope, glissading and boot skiing down enormous snow mounds in between switch backs of mud. It was slow going. I'll get to the other passes shortly, but this night in Yosemite -- one of the nation's most beautiful national parks -- we slept in a swampy tree graveyard. (Jenny called it the Fire Swamp. She wasn't wrong.) At least we had a lot of kindling.

Melting footpath in a snowfield

Glissading

The tree graveyard spot

Our reaction to the day

Fire!

The next day we thought it was the day for 25 miles. We were wrong. It turns out it was a day for 20.5 extremely hard won miles. We had more than twice the number of stream crossings of the prior day, and tons of mud and flooded trail. At least we had a beautiful campsite in an alpine meadow.

Meadows!

More!

Reflection of mountains

Again!

View from camp

As we left Yosemite, we got our wish: marathon miles. In the next couple of days we hiked an average of 27 miles a day including a 30 mile day - our biggest day yet this summer.

Sonora Pass, the second of the snowy passes we'd been warned about in this section, involved an exposed climb up, across and down snow and scree fields. We had some epic glissades, including a steep, long one that saved us at least a mile of descent at the end of the day. Luckily we still had our microspikes and ice axes to help guide us across a steep traverse to the chute. A family struggled to get down with only trekking poles. They made it. We were relieved to see them a few days later, safe and sound at Carson Pass.

Lots of hikers hitched out at the bottom of Sonora Pass where the trail crosses Highway 108 to Kennedy Meadows North or Bridgeport. We continued on. Why? Because we've got a wedding to get to.

Jenny crossing a snow field on the way up the 10+ mile trip around Sonora

The snow covered trail

Up on the ridge line

Deep paths through the snow

While eating dinner that night, a hiker who had flip-flopped up to Castella (approx. mile 1,500) from the Sierra because of snow joined us. It turns out Sweet Virginia was a Sophomore at Stanford (!!) in the midst of a year off. In the most unlikely PCT campfire, we went deep into life at the Farm and outdoor education programs. Jenny even guessed which boarding school she went to. I kid you not. We were super impressed that she was hiking the PCT during college, and a bit jealous that she had two years of college left.

The trail was not as easy as we had hoped the next morning. We climbed icy snow mounds, including one ill-fated glissade that ended in a pile of mud and rocks. Jenny got a bit scraped up. The north side of the first climb was a mess of snowfields and mud. We ended up both scrambling down rocks and fighting our way through thickets. By the time we started our second 1,000+ foot climb in 90 degree heat we were so thrilled to be on real trail that we barely minded the ascent. However, when we sat down for lunch we realized that for the first time ever we were tight on food, tight enough that we could only eat one tortilla and cheese wrap for lunch each. No bueno when you are hiking big miles. We were hungry. Given that we usually have a half day or more of food when we end a section that we roll into the next section, we wondered whether this is how some other hikers feel all the time. We didn't like it.

Luckily, the next morning when we crossed Highway 4 we were met with a glorious sight we hadn't seen since the desert: trail magic!! Chipmunk, a retired hiker from Sacramento, does trail magic at Highway 4 for four or five days every year. Our timing was perfect. We hadn't yet eaten breakfast. Chipmunk had perfected his own system, including buying cheap pots at thrift stores that he could use once to avoid cleaning. He greeted us with hand sanitizer, and then got us started. We feasted. I ate two eggs with chili and toast, a banana, two brownies, four glasses of chocolate milk, two glasses of orange juice and one cup of coffee. Jenny had two eggs with toast and jam, cereal, a banana, two glasses of orange juice and a glass of vanilla almond milk. Jenny took a washcloth in a hiker box that he maintained. We threw out our trash. We met a new, super friendly group of hikers who we hadn't met before. We were there for 45 glorious minutes, and then continued hiking.

Chipmunk being a boss

The table of hiker trash

We hiked 30 miles that day, past a mountain called "The Nipple" and up and over Carson Pass. We camped on a ridgeline right before a camping ban in the Carson Pass Management Area, and gorged ourselves on Me Goreng flavored ramen. It was delicious.

After the trail magic in a weird desert-y interlude

The Nipple

Around Carson Pass

Awesome sunset

Someone's happy to be at camp

Sticking with the theme of doing things that are a bit unusual to most people, we hiked 17 miles by 2pm the next day to arrive at Echo Lake's store in time for a late lunch. It was worth it. We ate in waves. First: popsicles, San Pellegrino sodas, chips and salsa, and paninis. Second: milkshakes. Third: baked goods and beers to go. We hiked another 10 miles to Susie Lake. Around Aloha Lake we power-walked past a family hanging out on a glorious rock and a couple having a romantic sunset snuggle. Desolation Wilderness is fantastically beautiful, filled with lakes and truly incredible. We were jealous of everyone hanging out, but determined to have a zero in Tahoe. At least we had swum in these lakes before, and will be back.

The swarms of mosquitoes got progressively worse as we descended from Aloha Lake. By the time we found a campsite, we already had covered ourselves in DEET and had our head nets on. It was no use. The mosquitoes were too bad to even cook in our vestibule. We had a dinner of beer and baked goods in our tent. It was not our finest Desolation moment.

Upper Echo Lake

Aloha Lake

Aloha Lake looking sexy

Susie Lake

Even with all of our pushing, we had 23 miles to finish before Barker Pass where we would get off trail and take much needed showers.

The last of the snowy passes remained, Dick's Pass, but it was a straight-forward ascent and easy-enough boot-skiing descent. Although we had another few minor climbs, we mostly had to power through from there. Upbeat favorites from Sierra Leone powered me through. P-Square. Brick and Lace. Akon. It was fantastic. Jenny stuck with her NPR podcasts.

As we popped up the hill to the Barker Pass road, we caught sight of a couple in a 4WD SUV just back from mountain biking. They kindly gave us a lift down to the main road. I cannot overstate how nice this was because we STANK. Sometime in the last few days as the fords got less frequent we got properly filthy. Our legs were covered in dried mud and dust. We were truly gross.

A taste of it

We sat in the dirt by the main Tahoe road at we waited for Tim to come pick us up. He had just gotten home from a two-week international trip, and after a 16 hour flight back from Hong Kong it's debatable who was in worse shape. (Not really, but you know, it was still an impressive feat.) Max, Jenny's 11-year old nephew, was more impressed by my beard than the fact that we were hiking the trail. They didn't want to hug us. We smelled too badly. I don't blame them. We are also apparently very thin. When we weighed ourselves, we realized that we have lost a ton of weight. I'm currently clocking in at 130 lbs. The wedding diet may be too aggressive.

Our break here has far exceeded our expectations: delightful showers, hot tubs and Moscow mules, fresh salads, and even real clothes (all of our stuff for the wedding is here)! We have a lot to finish before we are ready to get married in almost two weeks, but the list is getting smaller.

We are finally able to drop our Sierra gear and a few odds and ends we picked up along the way: ice axes, microspikes, rainpants (for me), bear cans, and a t-shirt or two (obviously we had to own Whoa Nellie Deli shirts). I'm most excited to get rid of the bear can, which turned my lower back into a black, blue and red locus of pain.

Before the wedding, we are going to hike 70 miles to Sierra City, and then another 140 miles to Chester. Mercifully, we can hike 20 miles a day through this period and still have sufficient buffer.

Why are we going past Sierra City? We simply need to get as far as possible to be confident that we can finish in time.

How was are we going to get from Chester back to Tahoe? The plan is a combination of hitchhiking, Lassen rural transit and a rental car in Susanville.

Are we going to do any wedding prep while we pass through Sierra City? Obviously... I'm still working on Sunday brunch to Jenny's chagrin. Don't worry, it will all work out.

Dreams do come true!! I am writing this from the Whoa Nellie Deli, a legendary restaurant inside a gas station, just past Yosemite's East exit. Justin and I have tried to come here for years, but it has never worked out for one reason or another. But now we are here and I can't recommend it enough. Apparently, we are missing the weekly Thursday bluegrass concert by just one day! This place is beloved by the dirtbags of the world. I'm buying a T-shirt.

It's been a short, wonderful section since Mammoth (and its hot tub-loving bears). Mammoth…, well Mammoth was tough. So many wedding logistics in just 36 hours. We're pretty thrilled to get back on the trail and away from cell service.

The trip from Mammoth to the trail consisted of two buses (getting to and from the PCT often relies on a network of rural buses that, I must say, are awesome). Because we were trying to finalize our wedding catering menu (it's going to be delicious) we didn't get to the trail until almost 6 PM - and then we did 9 miles because (ka-ching!) it was the longest day of the year and we didn't have to stop hiking until almost 9 pm. It was awesome. We mostly talked about The Princess Bride, a movie I had only seen once as a child but that we rented in Mammoth (apparently Justin couldn't marry me until I understood his Princess Bride references. Inconceivable!). Let me state for the record that that movie has some logical gaps.

Between Mt Whitney and Yosemite, the PCT and the John Muir Trail are largely one and the same. This means that we've seen a ton more hikers in this section than previous sections. The JMTers tend to be going southbound, have huge packs, and serious boots. They're also very friendly and for the most part, a great source of information about the trail ahead. For example, last week we learned from JMTers that the buses into Mammoth weren't running yet when we got off trail, so we knew to take a side trail instead. However, in this section we ran into some JMTers who I can only term "alarmist." Perhaps, "fear mongerers" if I'm being candid. We were hiking with fellow East Coast native/West Coast transplant Toe Touch when a JMTer stopped us and warned that an upcoming stream was at least chest deep and we should probably take a long detour. We got to the stream, checked it out, and then forded the bad boy right at the trail (no detour needed). As with most fords in the Sierra, the water hit somewhere around the knee. On the other side, as we were drying off and putting our shoes back on, a group of JMTers emerged from their descent of Donohue Pass. Donohue is the first major pass for folks on the JMT, and tends to be more of an afterthought pass for folks on the PCT (once you've done Glen and Muir, it's all afterthought). They were all abuzz and full of adrenaline from their first pass. Though it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, they warned us in no uncertain terms not to go over the pass until the next morning. To be fair, this would be our first time doing a pass in the late afternoon, when the snow is much softer and the risk of post-holing (or even breaking through a snow bridge into an icy stream) increases dramatically. But we'd done a bunch of passes at this point, we knew this one to be pretty chill, and we were emotionally prepared to get wet in the mushy snow. The JMTers persisted. One exclaimed "I cannot, in good conscience, recommend doing the pass now." Another one warned us, as if we didn't already know, that there was more snow on the other side. We assured her that at this point, we were quite familiar with the snow line on the north side of peaks. We finished tying our shoes and began to put on packs. Toe Touch turned to Justin and me and said "so, we're camping on this side, right?" I hesitated. I hadn't cleared it with Justin yet, but despite the JMTers warnings, I thought we'd still give it a try. I tried to be diplomatic and explained to Toe Touch that we'd start up and bail if it was too nasty. Toe Touch started to crack up. "Of course we're going over now! It's only 3:30! I was kidding. Let's go!" Two fun hours later, we were on the other side of the pass. We all agreed that it had actually been easier than we'd been anticipating, even before we'd heard the dire warnings. Fortunately for the JMTers heading South, the passes gradually increase in difficulty that way, so they should be totally emotionally and physically prepared by the time they hit some of the tougher ones in the South Sierra (shout out again to Timmy C for doing the most difficult passes straight from sea level with no training).

We made it into Tuolumne Meadows today, where we got wonderful care packages from mom's friend Corinne (I am obsessed with those green beans! Thank you!!) and Justin's friend Lucile (I had never heard of Hermit bars and now I would like the recipe). Then, we started to try to hitch the 19 miles to the Mobile. We figured it would be the easiest hitch of the trip. I mean, it was a beautiful day, there's one road out of the park, we're nice looking thru hikers, and we were in a national park in peak summer season. Instead, it was the hardest!! It ended up taking us 80 minutes to get a ride!! I can't tell you how many people drove by our sign ("PCT Hikers to Lee Vining") with a huge smile on their face - it was like seeing hiker trash was a delightful part of their national park visit! - and then zoomed past us. We even saw parents pointing us out to their young children. We could almost hear them saying "look kids! Authentic dirtbags on the right!" Fortunately Scott in his tricked out van saved the day. Thank you, Scott!

Now we're going to enjoy the last of the mango margaritas before starting the hitch back. Believe it or not, we're hoping to do at least another 6 miles tonight. Got to get in the miles before July 16th!

Editor's note: No pictures in this section because they're all on my work phone which has no service here at The Mobile.

Editor's 2nd note: Please don't tell anyone that we're hiking the PCT with four phones between the two of us.

Editor's 3rd note: pictures are here below!

Devils Postpile national monument. It's truly amazing.