Day 61 – 6/21/16

1001.29 to just north of Sonora Pass 1017.79

Total miles: 16.5

Last night I was held hostage by mosquitoes. One of my tent guy lines unhooked from a tent stake and so the tent was drooping on my head. Except there were about 30 blood suckers just sitting on my netting. I kept hitting the netting to shoo them away but the bastards just kept coming back. I was hoping they would go to sleep once it got dark and cooled off but they wouldnt. Eventually I gave up and quickly got out and fixed my tent. By the time I got back in my tent about 5 of them got inside. I spent the next few minutes smashing them. I need a pet bat to sit on my shoulder so he can get fat from these stupid bugs. Continue reading

Day 60 – 6/20/16

977.74 to 1001.29

Total miles 23.55

It was a totally different morning compared to yesterday morning. It was actually quite nice. Wasn’t too cold and there was no condensation. No mosquitoes either.  Today we planned on putting in some miles to make up for how little we did yesterday. Luckily most of the day consisted of a some what easy elevation. There are a couple steep climbs but they are fairly short.

We set out following along a creek. The sake creek that wanted to kill me if I slid off that stupid slope of snow. Within a couple miles we passed by what appeared to be the skull of a mountain lion. Poor kitty cat. Nonetheless it was pretty cool to see.

Continue reading

Day 59 – 6/19/16

Matterhorn Creek 962.06 to mile 977.74

Total miles: 15.68

I woke up this morning with the top of my quilt covered in frost. Great… Everything was frosted. Another cowboy camping failure. After I packed up my stuff I went to put my shoes on. Frozen solid. Awesome. What a great start to the day. My right shoe is falling apart. There is a huge rip on the side by my big toe. All of the creek crossings and snow have shredded the material. I worried that shoving my foot into the frozen shoe would just rip it even more. Luckily it didn’t rip more but the shoe is almost done for. I’m getting new ones in Tahoe but that is 130 miles away. Hold together shoe. Hold together.

Continue reading

Day 58 – 6/18/16

Tuolumne Meadows 942.50 to Matterhorn Creek 962.06

Total miles: 19.44

No bears last night. Just the shouting of stoners until late in the night. 5 am came quickly and I waited until I heard 5 Star deflate his sleeping pad before I started getting ready. Have to grab those few precious extra moments of warmth. We packed up and then all three of us headed to the campground bathrooms. Might as well use a real toilet before heading out into the backcountry again. Continue reading

Day 57 – 6/17/16

923.26 to Tuolumne Meadows 942.50

Total miles: 19.24

I was out at 6:30 last night. I slept so good until about 1 am. The moon is back and it was bright. I found that if I button up the top of my quilt around my neck and then pull the cinch cord and slip down further into the quilt my pillow will stay with me on the pad. It also blocks the moon light. By the time 5 am rolled around I was feeling tired and not wanting to get out of my warm quilt and tent. Continue reading

Day 56 – 6/16/16

Mammoth of 906.63 to 923.26

Total miles: 16.63 miles plus 4 miles back to trail

5 am came early. I did not want to get out of that warm soft bed. Mad Dog and Alice were coming at 6 am to pick 5 Star and I up to take us back to the trail. I finished packing up my stuff and ate my baked goods I got from the bakery yesterday morning. I sat on the bed counting down the minutes watching TV. My left foot still hurt. The top tendon was still sore even after 3 days of ice and rest. Continue reading

Day 54 and 55 – 6/14/16 and 6/15/16

Mammoth 903.3

Sleeping in a bed! Best night of sleep! So comfy. I woke up around 7 and 5 Star and I walked down the street to the Breakfast Club. I ordered french toast with strawberries. It was pretty good. Not the best I’ve ever had.

Continue reading

Day 53 – 6/13/16

3.5ish miles on Cascade valley alternate to Mammoth 903.3

Total miles: 13ish miles

Packing up in the morning was very difficult. Everything was still wet and it was very cold. Trying to stuff my tent in its stuff sack was hard. My fingers were ice cold and not working correctly. We started up the trail back to the PCT to Purple Lake. It was about a 1,700 foot climb over 3 miles or so. I was in a better mood and hopeful my camera would work. I planned on getting rice and letting it sit in a bag of rice over night. If that didn’t work then I would upgrade my phone to take better pictures since my Galaxy S5 is terrible.

Continue reading

Day 52 – 6/12/16

Vermillion Valley Resort 878.75 to 3.5 miles on Cascade Valley alternate

Total miles: 15ish

Sometimes words fail. Last night. Today. The last 24 hours were almost hike ending. Today’s post will be very short. Today absolutely sucked. To start off the annoying group of stoners sat around a fire being loud until probably 11 pm. Shouting about dumb shit all night. They only went to their tents when it started to rain. Continue reading

Day 51 – 6/11/16

Mile 873.64 to Vermillion Valley Resort 874.5 plus 7.2 mile side trail

Total miles: 8.06

Today was the day. VVR! Real food! Hot shower! Real toilet! Laundry! I was up all night thinking about it. I woke up at 5:05 and laid there for a minute until 5 Star threw a pinecone at my tent. I shouted that I was up. I packed up my stuff and shoved the only food I had left into my hip belt pocket. 2 snickers and a Lara bar. We had to climb about 750 feet to the Bear Station junction which led us 7.2 miles to VVR. Continue reading