From Bishop To South Lake Tahoe Miles 832 to 1092

Passed the 1,000 miles walked mark!

Big milestone in this section along with some beautiful and wild landscape and rivers traversed.  I left out of Bishop with a fellow hiker with the trail name of Gandolf.  Got a hitch out of town with a couple of young guys from Florida touring the west in an old 70’s Volkswagon Van.  The road to the trailhead for Piute Pass was quite a climb and the van started to struggle and overheated.  Kids weren’t too fazed by the events as it has been happening to them on other climbs in their trip.  They just needed to let the van cool down and head back to town.  Gandolf and I caught anther hitch for the rest of the way to the trailhead.  Gandolf and I had been hiking in the same bubble for about a week but we really didn’t know each other.  At camp that night, found out that Gandolf had recently committed to go through Discernment (part of process to determine if he was being called to be a Priest).  We had a very interesting conversation over dinner at our campsite and he gave me a St. Bernard medal (Patron Saint of Backpackers)  Gandolf’s time to be on the trail has now run out and he recently let me know that he was off trail and heading back home.  I know he is in good hands as he determines his future.

Once back on the PCT we went over the next pass which was Seldon Pass at 10,930 ft. and then into backcountry with lots of lakes stocked with fish.  Fly fishing was very big and many people were hiking in with their fishing poles.The next pass was Silver Pass at 10,778 ft. still had some snow on the north side but we were able to cross it pretty easily.  There was an urgency to get to Mammoth Lakes before July 4th and we went out on July 2nd over Mammoth Pass and I was fortunate enough to meet some day hikers on the exit trail that offered to give me a ride into town.  The Wades were teachers in Biology and Biochemistry and enjoy hiking in the Sierras in the summer.  They bought me a drink and offered for me to stay at their camp site in town.  I was meeting up with Tigger and Shepherd for dinner and the Wades drove me to the restaurant and then after I arranged for a hotel room they brough me my backpack to the restaurant,  They were very nice and made my transition into town so easy.  Shady made it into town the next day and split the hotel room with me.  Mammoth has a great FREE shuttle system running through town and early on July 4th, Shady and I caught the shuttle back out to the trailhead before all the July 4th parade and other fesivities began.  We worked our way to a resort called Reds Meadows and met up with several other hikers who were staying in their campground and avoiding Mammoth.  Another bridge had beeen wiped out this spring and we had to hike a 4 mile detour to get past it,  The mosqitoes are hungry now and it is a bumper crop!  Bug nets and keep walking are the solutions.  We crossed Donohue Pass 11,073 ft. at mile 930.8 and that is where we enter into Yosemite National Park.  Toulumie Meadows allowed us to pick up our pace to 20 miles each day and in the meadows saw lots of deer and some people saw an occasional bear.  Many of us kept hiking late into the evening to deal with the intense hatch of the mosquitoes.  It was just past Dorthy Lake Pass 9,526 ft. that we crossed the 1,000 mile mark. Felt like we were getting somewhere!!!  Kennedy Meadows North is where you have left the Sierras behind and normally can get rid of the bear canisters.  However this year the Tahoe Basin has instituted the bear can policy so we still need to keep them until Donners Pass/Truckee with is another 60 miles north.  Kennedy Meadows North is a working horse and Pack outfitters and has a great Restaurant and Bar and very hiker friendly.  Stayed there one night and enjoyed watching all the horse wranglers get the horses ready for the various pack or riding trips.  

Random Notes

The zipper on my tent finally gave up the ghost and I had to buy a new tent in South Lake Tahoe.  Not going to have a tent that can’t keep the bugs out!

I had the outfitter put new tips on my trekking poles.  I had abused them and ground them down over the last 1,000 miles.

Some of the recent downhills out of the mountains were long and gnarly.  My left knee is sore and I’m icing it while in town.

Shady and I stayed in the worst hotel room ever the first night in South Lake Tahoe.  We were not going to stay there a second night! Lesson:  Don’t book a room without seeing it first!

The fire season is up and running in Northern California.  The Shelly Fire has the trail closed a couple hundred miles ahead.  But there are also other fires popping up so we need to stay in tune with the status daily.  Some people are jumping up into Ashland Oregon now to get to the other side of the current hot spots.  Some people are waiting until they get to Trukee/Donners Pass to determine strategy.  Others are going to hike until the rangers close the trail and their hope is the fires will be out by then or they will just adjust on the fly.

I am going to hike to Trukee/Donners Pass and evaluate.  Was looking at possibly renting a car to go up to Washington and start hiking there with the option to swing back down to Oregon/Northern CA later after the fire season slows down.

Roary and Rollie are having a blast and meeting new people all the time!

Thanks for following.  I’m heading over to get my resupply for the next 4 days as I get back on trail tomorrow morning.

Peace

CrampPa