The aim of the day was to make Bridgeport before the post office closed at 4pm. Easy we thought, as we only had 8 miles to hike, most of which were downhill. I was the latest in my guess at arrival time, going for noon. The hike really astonished me with the change of scenery. It changed from a huge…
We hit the ground running today! A very fast 7 miles over rather flat terrain had us at Dorothy Lake by 9:30am. We took a long break, swimming and washing socks. Even that early in the morning the sun was warm enough to dry us out quickly and make it hard to leave. Eventually we dragged ourselves away and made…
I woke up early to chattering squirrels in our tiny campsite. It makes a wonderful contrast with cars, sirens and shouting! Lion King stopped by as we were packing up our camp. We met him first when he was helping out at the hostel in Big Bear but he is now section hiking southbound. We gave him DEET to replace…
The same Ranger we had been leapfrogging yesterday caught up with us in the meadow after Miller Lake, where he had been aiming to camp yesterday. He told us he hadn’t managed to make it, being tired and ready to finish. He also revised his plans for his 3 day trip, originally heading for Benson Lake which would have been…
Late start today. Chug had left his phone on the YARTS bus last night, and had called the number on the bus stop which had said office hours are from 6:30am. So he called them at 7am and was told by an electronic voice they were dealing with another customer. This continued for the next hour and a half. Must…
This morning I saw Nell (Fran) for the first time since Wrightwood. She has zeroed a lot so has dropped back in the pack. Sababa and Spider who were hiking with her both left the trail so she is on her own again. Still hiking fast though, so maybe she will make better progress through NorCal. We showed up at…
The day started gently with only 300ft of elevation gain to Island Pass. It’s pretty but I find it hard to think of it as a proper mountain pass because it starts so high already. Donahue Pass later in the day was not the fastest we have ever climbed but was a pretty easy trail, and this time definitely a…
We had resolved to get an early breakfast and head for the first Red’s Meadow shuttle which left at 8am from the Village, a trolley ride from town. We were at the town trolley stop by 7:30 all ready to get up to the Village…and found the town trolley doesn’t run til 9am. Oops. We tried hitchhiking whilst walking, when…
We hit the Post Office straight after breakfast, although by that time it was almost 10am. I’d forgotten exactly what was in my bounce box, food-wise so that needed unpacking before I could even contemplate going to the store for additional items. As it turned out I had a bunch of dinners, some breakfasts, tuna packets and some homemade oat…
I had hoped to rest my ankle and feet whilst in town, and knowing that the Post Office didn’t open until Monday gave me a whole Sunday before the task of resupply began in earnest. Moving straight from the breakfast cafe to a coffee shop seemed perfectly reasonable today. I was glad to find that Mammoth, like Bishop, has a…