Day 83: 909-926

This was the last stretch of the JMT before it cuts off and dumps to its start point in Yosemite Valley.  We decided to hike the last 14 miles of it before we permanately break off back onto the PCT. Although there was a good amount of snow to hike through it was nice..  I hiked the alternate to Island Pass. The climb was nice and not too tough.

my attempt at an illustration  

For a majority of the day, I hiked solo.  The trail brought me to Rosalie lake, which had beautiful reflective water. Then I dropped 700 ft down switchbacks to Shadow Lake, which was one of the largest natural lakes in the Sierra that I have seen.  It was also completely melted through, and crystal green. I took a break here and smoked a cigarette. Getting down to the lake I cut my knee open hopping over a tree trunk, but I feel pretty good.  The mosquitos, however, are on a rampage.

the last bit of frozen water  

After my break I hiked uphill for a long while with Ten Gallon to get up and over into the next valley. The next valley had Garnett Lake, which was…wow.  So damn beautiful. Storm clouds are all around us and I heard thunder booms in the distance.

forest! 

Our group is super strung out across this section of trail, some of us are hiking faster than others, and we may not hit our 17 mile goal today. GoPro, Ten Gallon and I hung out for a while waiting on them but we finally decided to keep going. We continue the climb up and over to Ruby Lake and then we pass a small unnamed lake. One more hill is climbed and then we are able to see Thousand Island Lake for the first time. Its completely frozen over which a couple spots thawed.

At the lake we reunite with ViPR, Fundip and their crew.  We head up Island Pass with the intent of finding a good place to camp.

Righteous, Big Daddy, and Happy Hour never show up to the lake.  I know Big Daddy was having severe ankle pain. We decide to summit Island Pass - the easiest pass by far. We haul ass down the north slope and stop to camp. Im so tired and sore after a 17 mile hike.  It was a lot of up and down hiking today. We bullshit and make dinner. The other 3 never show up.  I hope they are ok!

Day 82: Mammoth Pass to 909

Jessica dropped us off this morning. I had the trail blues: I feel this way after spending time in town. I dread hiking again. But we are so close to the end of the Sierra. Two more weeks and I'll be in South Lake Tahoe. I said my goodbyes to Jessica and me and the group, not a smaller contingent of the Lazy Fucks headed out of Horseshoe Lake and up over Mammoth Pass.

It was actually a pretty easy climb except for some mangled forest we had to cut through. Once we got back to the PCT is was easy cruising down to the PCT/JMT junction. We covered 9 miles in 5 hours. Unfortunately my pack is now heavy again with food and I've lost a ton of weight so my hip belt no longer supports the weight. Most of it pulls on my shoulders so my back starts aching after a couple miles.

We past by Devils Postpile and I completely forgot to photograph it. It's an interesting rock formation, and national monument. We're way down below 8,000 ft so there is lots of dirt trail and a million new mosquitos to deal with. You trade one thing for the other out here. We camped along a river and immediately got fire going to keep the mosquitos at bay. Sometimes it works, sometimes they are so relentless they power through the smoke to find your ears and scalp. I hate them.

Tomorrow we are going to attempt 17 miles. I'm not sure how my back (and pack) will manage but we'll see. If we keep a higher mileage per day we can be in Kennedy Meadows North in a week.

Day 79-81: Zero in Mammoth

I hate writing about zero days so here's some pictures. We spent 4th of July relaxing and catching up on eating. 

Jessica came up (god bless her) and got us an airbnb. We drank and hopped around town. Went to the rest of the crews pad and hung out in their jacoozi for a while.

Hit the grocery store and bought stuff to cook for the holiday. We didn't see any fireworks.

I cooked up tri tip, corn, and mashed potatoes for the folks.

Ran errands and chilled. It felt so rejuvenating to relax with her, although we didn't get as much time together as we had hoped. A lot of distractions.

When she dropped us off at the base of Mammoth Pass it was tough saying goodbye but I think we both handled it better than in the past. We are getting stronger. She wants me to push for Canada.

Julia is a friend i used to ski with in Utah. She helped us out in town.  

she's also a crazy ass driver and has strong opinions about living in a man's world

we got intoxicated in the woods at a YMCA camp

big daddy found his lover  

the one who keeps me strong. She's the most important person on the trail for me.