Days 62-63

Day 62, 17 miles, endpoint PCT mile 896

Our first 3+ hours today were uphill as we climbed 3,000 feet to Silver Pass. The effort was worth it; the top of the pass was awesome, and the views coming down the other side were of gorgeous lakes and mountain peaks.

We ran into a Sierra National Forest ranger crew doing trail work at the top of the pass (not a bad day at the office). These were the first rangers we have seen since entering the Sierras. We showed one of the rangers our permits (which we obtained from the Pacific Crest Trail Association, a requirement before starting the trip) and talked to him for awhile about "Leave No Trace" principles, the forest service, and thru-hiking the PCT. This guy hiked the entire PCT in 2012, so he knew exactly what we were going through and was very nice and friendly.

Besides that, not much else happened today other than we hiked through some more amazing places, blah, blah, blah, typical Sierra stuff. So, instead of talking about the hiking, I'll briefly run through a summary of our current state of things:

--Josh has not cut his beard since leaving on this trip. It is starting to get to an interesting long, bushy stage, and I cannot wait to see where it goes (grows) from here.

--It has been almost two weeks since I last saw myself in a mirror. I have no idea what I look like right now.

--The holes in Josh's shirt have expanded considerably since going through the washing machine at VVR. Today he got a pretty bad sunburn on his shoulder from one of the holes. I'm not sure if he is planning on getting a new shirt.

--I have found that the recipe for a good night of sleep is a Benadryl and one Aleve at bedtime.

--Mosquito bites suck, but so does taking a bath in Deet, which we have had to do for the last couple of days.

--We haven't had a good Internet or cell connection in weeks. I don't know who won the NBA finals.

--Down pants are the best invention ever.

--Neither of us have had any blisters since we left the desert almost 200 miles ago.

--My appetite has increased beyond imagination, and Josh's new name for me is Chunky Monkey. I can flat out eat. I just have to hope we never run out of food between resupply points.

--We have been on the lookout for bears since entering the Sierras, with no luck. The other day we thought we hear a bear rustling off trail below us, but it was just a girl peeing in plain sight. She told us later she didn't realize the trail curved like that.

--We are done with the mammoth 11,000-13,000 foot mountain passes, and I think I am happy about that.

--We are going to make a side trip off the PCT into Yosemite National Park soon!

Tomorrow we will hit the 900 mile mark, make a quick stop at Red's Meadow which has a store and restaurant, and see where else the trail takes us.

Headed up Silver Pass

Rangers doing trail work at the very top of Silver Pass... and checking permits.  They may have had the nicest office view in the world.

The pondering life shot.

Trail views.

Starting to see more and more wild flowers.

Natural chairs.

The most annoying bird in the world!

Trail views.

Trail views.

Trail views.

Camp with a view.

The sky was out of control to the SE.

View from camp... with nobody anywhere near us... oh so sweet.

Day 63, 17ish miles (???), endpoint Lake Minaret (off the PCT)

The hiking today was actually pretty nondescript, but we saved the best for last. From our campsite we had a long, gradual, ten mile descent to Red's Meadow through dense forest. Along the way we hit mile 900! Yay!

We made the short trip off the PCT to Red's Meadow to pick up a few things from the store there. The catastrophe of the day occurred when on the way to Red's, I couldn't find our spoon. To save weight, we shipped home our second pot and second spoon, meaning we only have one of each between the two of us. So when I lost our only spoon (I'm assuming I left it at last night's camping spot), that meant we suddenly had no utensil for eating whatsoever. No way to stir up our dinners for rehydration. No way to easily eat the dinner out of the pot once it was ready. Losing that stupid spoon was actually kind of a big deal. Luckily, we were on our way to a store, where we could probably pick up a replacement. Disaster averted.

At the store we also needed some more fuel, sunscreen, and toothpaste. We turned down a dirt road off the PCT towards Red's Meadow and found there was no meadow in sight. Instead, Red's--a pack station and resort on the Eastern slope of the Sierra--smelled like horse manure and dusty dirt. We walked past horses in a dirt field and empty cabins, and finally found the general store. The yard in front of the store was filled with families on vacation, as people milled about and waited on tour buses which would take them to the town of Mammoth Lakes or other points of interest in the area. The small store had what we needed, including a camp spoon.

We ate lunch at Red's, split a beer, then headed to the trail to find the Devil's Postpile. This national monument was formed 100,000 years ago from volcanic eruptions and looks like hundreds of tall columns sticking straight up into the air. The area around Devil's Postpile was crowded, and we were both in a people-overload mood. We went north to the point where the PCT and John Muir Trail (JMT) diverge. We took the JMT for a bit, then turned off onto a side trail to check out an area known as the Minarets.

The trail to Lake Minaret soon became mosquito hell. We slathered on more Deet and walked as fast as we could as the trail climbed over 1,000 feet up. Finally, as our reward for a long day of hiking, we finally had some typical epic Sierra scenery as we reached Lake Minaret. Jagged, craggy, snowy peaks encircled the lake, and we found a place to camp high up on a rocky edge. From there we could actually see two lakes.

Tomorrow we will likely rejoin the JMT/PCT at some point, as we continue towards our next resupply point, Tuolumne Meadows, in about two days. In between here and there are more mountains and lakes, though, so tomorrow should be fun.

Mile 900!

Red's Meadow.  Provided us beers and a spoon.

Devil's Postpile National Monument.  Sky was overcast so we didn't spend time taking many pics.  This area was really crowded and not very scenic or spectacular.

Lake Minaret.  So excited that we might get this shot with some great clouds for sunset... but it wouldn't happen, they disappeared on us.

Camp.

View from camp.

Instead the light went off to the west over the Mammoth area.  We had a small window of the view but it required running up and over a few hundred foot climb with all the camera gear to catch it.

And we got it just in time with our full 300mm telephoto on.