Hiking - 2016 PCT - Day 63 to 75

Had a BBQ by the pool at the place we hired which was pretty good. The next day most people had a lazy morning sorting packs and food for the next small stretch. I headed out to buy a new pack and ended up with an Osprey Atmos. Fortunately one of my hiker friends is staying in town until tomorrow (monday). So I'll leave my old pack with him to mail out.

A few of us went to the cenima before doing another BBQ for dinner again and relaxing in the hot tub. They are pretty prompt with their 10pm pools closed rule so it wasn't a late night. Had some corn flakes for breakfast before catching the 3 busses necessary to get back to the trail. 2/3 were free shuttles Mammoth runs around town so it wasn't pricey but took some time.

Despite getting it properly fitted at the shop I think the torso length on the new pack is too short... with some adjustment it was OK but it still gave me about the same/worse back pain as my broken pack... maybe a full day at a decent adjustment will be ok or hopefully by Monday I can get a reply and might have a new SMD pack sent out and send this one home for spare/friends... I'll almost have as many packs as dad has camping fridges!

Despite pack woes the trail is still beautiful. Some cool rock formations in the mountain, seen similar rocks elsewhere too but the Devils Post holes were good to see. There were also more amazing lakes, mountains and rivers flowing strong.



Last night I had my first "the hell am I doing out here" thoughts. It was drizzle/rain for the last hour of hiking, and pretty cold. When I got to camp I setup the tent quickly and jumped inside, figured I;d sort sleeping gear and dinner later. After killing the 20 or so mozzies that managed to follow me into my tent in the 10 or so seconds the fly was open I laid there, on the ground, with my sore back. By 7pm the sun was still shining but I forced down some food and setup my sleeping mat, thankfully I was tired enough to fall asleep through the back pain.

All those thoughts from last night were squashed after less than a mile out of camp in the morning. I turned a corner to the below view of Thousand Island Lake and remembered 'Oh yeah, that's why I'm here.'

The Seirra are nothing short of amazing. Every day for over a week I have been greeted by one glorious view after another. Today was a much better day with the pack too after the adjustments yesterday I only barely felt any back soreness. I assume it was remnants of the pain from the day before.

After winding through the beautiful Toulumne Meadows for almost 8 miles I arrived at the campground late arvo and tried to get a Half Dome permit. Fresh out :/ but second on the waiting list for tomorrow if people no show. I'm also going to get in line at 7am to hopefully get a permit issued at 11am for the following day.

Got to the permit line at 650 am and found 4 people already waiting... to go the oposite direction. Knowing we were guaranteed the spot made he early start seem worth it but or was still a wait until we officially got our permits.

While waiting in the line and chatting the other hikers loved tails of the PCT. As they were in front of us and also 100% sure on getting permits they offered us their safety food! Strawberries, choc chip cookies, pistachio nuts, blue berries, chicken sausages, salsa, a few other snacks and even a beer! Made the 4 hour wait for permits seem like a good thing.

Despite needing to descend down to Yosemite Valley there was quite a bit more climbing to do. Once again though we were rewarded with great views. Some sections seemed pretty fast... but that was because I was almost in a jog. The Mozzies in Sunrise Meadow were so thick it almost felt like you were hiking in the shadow of a cloud...

After guiding a pair of lost day hikers back to a Trail junction, that would lead them to a road by nightfall, Burn Sides and I pushed on towards Clouds Rest. Dark grey clouds and the sound of thunder behind us had us stop about 0.7 miles short of the summit at a safe site to camp.

The storm turned out to be all bark and no bite. There was light spitting for all of 30 seconds. I think only a dozen or so drops hit my tent... Still it was a good camp and put us in a prime position for the morning. We headed up just after sun rise to see a golden glow descend upon Half Dome.

Seeing it lit by the morning sun made us even more excited to climb it. We wasted no time heading down off Clouds Rest and starting back up again towards half dome.

On the trail up we were asked by at least a half dozen people if we had extra permits. It sounded so weird, who would line up for 4 hours for an extra permit... but if you had a 3 person  permit and someone got sick I guess it would work. Still felt strange being asked.

After a lot of steps we finally made it to the fun bit. The cables to climb. Granite rock smoothed by a million footsteps, small wooden platforms you could barely fit a shoe on and People in front scared of heights.  It was pretty awesome!



At the top we had amazing views and awesome cliffs to sit on the edge of. I had to wait for one place where people were carefully (some crawling) making their way for a photo op. When my turn came I hoped over the first few rocks to the main ledge before dropping down past where the people before me dared to venture.

By the time we were heading back down the bulk of the early morning day hikers had started to arrive. This caused a massive traffic jam on the cables. I opted to hop on the outside, still having firm grasp of one line, and scoot past everyone. 2 people told me it was dangerous and 1 guy called me stupid but at least a dozen said something along the lines of "wow, that's pretty neat."

To finish off the side trip we took the Mist trail out. It was off the back if suggestions from friends and I'm glad we took it! I'm also very very glad that I was going down... Lots and lots of steps. Big ones. Two fabulous waterfalls with the spray from one covering the trail down. Was nice and refreshing after hiking down the hot valley.

On the mist trail we also started to see a lot of holiday/tourists. Some dressed like they were heading to the city. It was interesting the mix of day hikers, people just starting the long JMT hike, people with toddlers, people wearing thongs (flip flops) and even some in leather dress shoes and business slacks/shirts.



Yosemite Valley itself was very very touristy. Despite being a National park it felt more like a theme park. Shuttle busses, different eateries, hire bikes, activities for kids and of course the massive crowds to go with it. After having a lack luster (and expensive) burger we started trying to get back to trail.

We needed a ride to where we started, 21 miles up the valley, which unfortunately was a 1.5 hour car trip around.  After trying for a while we were finally pocked up by a friendly face, the ranger that issued us the Half Dome permits! He was down in the valley for training. He also lived down there but offered us a place to stay and a ride when he was going back up... he following afternoon. We thanked him but being eager to get back to the PCT we got dropped at the main HWY junction instead.

Wasn't too long before someone came by. She asked where we were headed and despite planning on turning west she decided that taking us east would be ok too. She was on a year long road trip around he USA and didn't have any set plans. To say thanks we offered some fuel money and to share a beer. It was already pretty late so Wind (a trail name given to her for changing directions for us) ended up camping there too.

Late start the next day as I needed to charge electronics for an 8 day stretch in the wilderness. Finally made it out around lunch to knock off a fee miles before dark. More awesome falls and rock formations and as I was following a creek down most of the afternoon I made really good time too.

Today was a pretty tough day physically. Lots of climbing and heaps of rivers to cross. There was 7 where getting wet was the only option as well which slowed down the day. Still plenty of rivers meant plenty of cool little waterfalls. The views on the climbs were pretty good too.



Found a relatively mossie free camping space... at least for a while. After setting up and making dinner they finally found me. Still not anywhere near as bad as some nights I've had. Where I went to brush my teeth must have been a good spot for them though, they seemed to swarm out after me. I quickly finished and headed to the safety of my tent. Only 1 made it inside with me. It didn't last long.

Heard through the hiker grapevine today that another couple I knew had to pull off trail because of a disease from a tick bite! That brings the total (that I know of) to at least 25 people. Some from injury/illness others from lack of funds and a few because they simple had enough. Some of the injured have hopped back on but others were bad enough that they're out for the season.

Lots of steep up and down today but not many rivers that required getting wet. The second half of the day wasn't as bad with the hills and I fell in with some hikers I hadn't seen for a while that convinced me to push onto the next milestone. 1000 MILES!!



Mozzies were really bad 0.25 mi either side of the marker so it was a quick snap then an even quicker exit. It was funny seeing people hike in their rain gear and bug net to escape the swarm. Lucky for me Bushmans seems to do the trick... Might need to get some more though...

Last day in the Sierra Mountains and they were as beautiful as ever. It was a very distinct change in mountain ranges too. From tall granite to towering sedement/rock. It was as of someone drew a line and each type of mountain stayed on its side. There was also a pretty cool view of the trail, sometimes it's hard to see/pick where it goes without a map... other times you just wish it was.

Spent the night at Kennedy Meadows (North) and had an awesome prime rib dinner. A few hikers are organising a 4th of July party on trail, so stocked up some supplies to pack out for that too. It was only 10 miles out but that was good because of the extra party food etc pack was a little heavier. Despite the change in mountains we weren't quite done with the snow yet, with quite a few fields to cross/climb.



After a fairly big 4th of July night, which included jungle juice made in a bear can, a lot of hikers were sluggish in the morning. I stuck (mostly) to my small bottle of bourbon so I didn't feel bad but definitely had a slower pace. Managed to get in a decent distance and camped by Noble lake. Far less mozzies the last 2 nights as well which is very welcome.

Started the day rather slowly, it was 46 mies to town so I thought I could do it in 3 easy days. Was making pretty good time though and hit some awesome trail magic just in time for smoko. With my belly full of burger, MnM's, chips/salsa, fresh fruit and 2 cans of coke I rocketed the next few miles. By lunch I had already reached the planned camp and decided to push on.

Made 26.5 miles by the end of the day so will get into town a day early. I think it must be a family trait because on the way home from a family vacation we always seemed to push some big days and end up ahead of schedule too.



Was a really good day until I had to descend over 1800 ft in just under 1.5 miles. Very steep down made the bottom of my feet cain. Still made it into South Lake Tahoe to find a care package from home, my bounce box, new shoes and everything I needed to get back into my old pack! Going to look into hiring a ski boat tomorrow but need to find a few hikers to share it with first.