To Have and To Hike: Mammoth to Tuolumne Meadows (aka Dispatch from The Mobile)

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.