Despite the late use of cars and trucks last night, the surrounding campers also were not shy about running them this morning. I didn’t mind the wakeup, and we quickly broke camp and headed to the diner for breakfast. A nice bowl of oatmeal was in store for me, along with some plentiful coffee. After the call last night with my parents, I hoped the short morning charging during breakfast would give it enough juice to get me to Tuolumne Meadows. Jeannie and I talked about her plans, as Mike’s MRI came back showing that he had heel spurs in addition to the stress fracture, and he definitely wouldn’t be back on the PCT this year. I felt really sorry for both of them, as she decided she would end at Tuolumne and then go home to do stuff with him that didn’t require such strenuous activity. She seems to be alright with it, though clearly disappointed that she won’t finish this year. I’m in the same boat of not finishing, but I think everyone comes to realize their own dreams in different ways and hopefully you can make the most of each of your experiences out here. If that means hiking 2,665 miles in a year, more power to you, but I’m absolutely convinced that I can have just as much fun in the 1,300 miles I get to hike this summer, and then maybe I’ll come back and knock out the rest at some other point.
On the way out of Red’s we saw LowTech hike in, and then as soon as we said hi the bus to Mammoth Lakes pulled up and she hopped and and disappeared. Crazy seeing her one last time, in a fourth separate location. We walked out past the pack station again, and took a bunch of photos of the mules. Apparently the teams here will bring supplies out to trail crews in the mountains or will actually support hikers who want food and other essentials brought out to the midway point of their trip. That would be an interesting way to do it - instead of stopping at towns just meet up with your hired pack team.
The big attraction around here is the Devil’s Postpile, an area of exposed basalt rock columns from volcanic activity. These hexagonal columns are at all different heights and many have broken off and lay scattered at the base of the pile. I think the choice of the name “Devil’s” is derived from the chaos of this natural phenomenon. We wanted to get some close up shots, so at a 3-way junction we dropped our packs and followed the sign to the Postpile trail. This was only supposed to be a half mile tops, but we watched as we first came close to the site, then slowly progressed further and further from it. Without our packs we were moving at a solid clip, and soon realized we’d gone nearly a mile. At a creek crossing I decided we must’ve missed the side trail to the postpile, so we should head back. Back at our packs we were frustrated, but got some distant shots (well at least I did - Jeannie's camera refused to work) and decided that was good enough. We came to the junction and took the third trail - assuming it must be the PCT. It was about a mile before I realized we were heading Southeast, when the trail should be going due North. I guessed our location based on the map, and Jeannie confirmed with the GPS. A mile off trail. Great, now we’ve wasted four miles of hiking, and we’ve only gotten a mile and a half from Red’s Meadow. We stopped, had lunch, then made our way back to that same junction. Here we realized that the Devil’s Postpile trail was in fact the fourth trail there, and that we’d totally overlooked it previously. To make it worse, we had first walked a mile up the PCT, then walked back in frustration. To say we were crestfallen would be an understatement. The plan for the day had been to make it a relatively easy 16 miles to Thousand Island Lake for a nice evening swim, but that now seemed far out of reach. Plus, our motivation was totally sapped as we retraced our steps along the trail to that same creek crossing.
Immediately afterwards was a set of signs instructing JMT hikers on one route and PCT hikers on another. For the next 14 miles the two trails are on opposite sides of a ridge - the PCT stays high and traverses another ridge while the JMT stays lower and jumps around between lakes in various glacial bowls. We chose to be purists and follow the PCT, partially due to stories of a bridge out on the JMT. The guidebook says the JMT is more scenic, but I have to say that there were some stunning vistas from the path that we took. My only regret was that we had to go through Agnew Meadow, which would be more appropriately named Agnew Mudhole. I managed to escape with one shoe fully coated in the brown muck, and the other only spattered with mud. This turned out to be neat later as I stepped in water and kept my feet dry when the now dry dirt absorbed a bunch of water and prevented it from penetrating to my socks.
We had a nice climb of 1,500 feet to gain the high traversing trail, and amazingly I hardly noticed this one. It made me reminisce about the good old days in the desert when a 500 ft climb was something to worry about. I guess it was all great training and preparation so that my body wouldn’t flinch when I got out here. Jeannie and I started getting pretty hungry around 7, and we found a perfect spot which I dubbed the “Overlook Restaurant and Hotel”. It would be a great spot to eat dinner and pitch camp, except that we were both a touch short on water and didn’t have enough to cook dinner. What a shame, and with a touch of remorse we forced ourselves to move on until we first found a stream and then a suitable flat spot on which to cook and retire for the day.
Miles Today: 13 (+3ish)
Trip Mileage: 920
Photo: Shadow Lake in a bowl across from the PCT
On the way out of Red’s we saw LowTech hike in, and then as soon as we said hi the bus to Mammoth Lakes pulled up and she hopped and and disappeared. Crazy seeing her one last time, in a fourth separate location. We walked out past the pack station again, and took a bunch of photos of the mules. Apparently the teams here will bring supplies out to trail crews in the mountains or will actually support hikers who want food and other essentials brought out to the midway point of their trip. That would be an interesting way to do it - instead of stopping at towns just meet up with your hired pack team.
The big attraction around here is the Devil’s Postpile, an area of exposed basalt rock columns from volcanic activity. These hexagonal columns are at all different heights and many have broken off and lay scattered at the base of the pile. I think the choice of the name “Devil’s” is derived from the chaos of this natural phenomenon. We wanted to get some close up shots, so at a 3-way junction we dropped our packs and followed the sign to the Postpile trail. This was only supposed to be a half mile tops, but we watched as we first came close to the site, then slowly progressed further and further from it. Without our packs we were moving at a solid clip, and soon realized we’d gone nearly a mile. At a creek crossing I decided we must’ve missed the side trail to the postpile, so we should head back. Back at our packs we were frustrated, but got some distant shots (well at least I did - Jeannie's camera refused to work) and decided that was good enough. We came to the junction and took the third trail - assuming it must be the PCT. It was about a mile before I realized we were heading Southeast, when the trail should be going due North. I guessed our location based on the map, and Jeannie confirmed with the GPS. A mile off trail. Great, now we’ve wasted four miles of hiking, and we’ve only gotten a mile and a half from Red’s Meadow. We stopped, had lunch, then made our way back to that same junction. Here we realized that the Devil’s Postpile trail was in fact the fourth trail there, and that we’d totally overlooked it previously. To make it worse, we had first walked a mile up the PCT, then walked back in frustration. To say we were crestfallen would be an understatement. The plan for the day had been to make it a relatively easy 16 miles to Thousand Island Lake for a nice evening swim, but that now seemed far out of reach. Plus, our motivation was totally sapped as we retraced our steps along the trail to that same creek crossing.Immediately afterwards was a set of signs instructing JMT hikers on one route and PCT hikers on another. For the next 14 miles the two trails are on opposite sides of a ridge - the PCT stays high and traverses another ridge while the JMT stays lower and jumps around between lakes in various glacial bowls. We chose to be purists and follow the PCT, partially due to stories of a bridge out on the JMT. The guidebook says the JMT is more scenic, but I have to say that there were some stunning vistas from the path that we took. My only regret was that we had to go through Agnew Meadow, which would be more appropriately named Agnew Mudhole. I managed to escape with one shoe fully coated in the brown muck, and the other only spattered with mud. This turned out to be neat later as I stepped in water and kept my feet dry when the now dry dirt absorbed a bunch of water and prevented it from penetrating to my socks.
We had a nice climb of 1,500 feet to gain the high traversing trail, and amazingly I hardly noticed this one. It made me reminisce about the good old days in the desert when a 500 ft climb was something to worry about. I guess it was all great training and preparation so that my body wouldn’t flinch when I got out here. Jeannie and I started getting pretty hungry around 7, and we found a perfect spot which I dubbed the “Overlook Restaurant and Hotel”. It would be a great spot to eat dinner and pitch camp, except that we were both a touch short on water and didn’t have enough to cook dinner. What a shame, and with a touch of remorse we forced ourselves to move on until we first found a stream and then a suitable flat spot on which to cook and retire for the day.
Miles Today: 13 (+3ish)
Trip Mileage: 920
Photo: Shadow Lake in a bowl across from the PCT
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