August 30, 2016

Ruby lake to Silver Pass Lake (mile 884)

Miles: 20.9 (14.4 to PCT + 1.3 PCT miles south to VVR junction + 5.2 PCT miles north)

Our total miles: 2249

We slept well under a blanket of stars. We didn’t set an alarm and woke up around 6:15, in time to watch the morning light kiss the granite cliffs around Ruby Lake.

We were walking by 7:15. Our packs didn’t feel much lighter than yesterday but our bodies were rested. As we started to climb up toward Mono Pass Laurie felt her heart racing. 

Ah yes, altitude.

Our max elevation during the last 2.5 months was 6ooo or 7000 feet. Suddenly we were at 10,500 feet going up to 12,000. Our bodies were no longer acclimatized.

Fortunately we both acclimatize quickly. We anticipate that in a few days we would feel like mountain goats again. 

But for now, we took it slow, mindfully placing each foot so as not to slip on the sand covered granite steps.

Today was beautiful! Narrow whispy looking clouds were scattered across the pale blue sky.

We climbed up to Mono Pass via sandy switchbacks. Our lungs screamed everytime we took a drink as the moment was dedicated to drinking rather than breathing.

Mono Pass was desolate, the only thing around was Summit Lake. It looked like the Sahara desert or maybe another planet (we have never been to either of these places but assume they look this way).

From here we descended, past other lakes, down toward Mono Creek. We took a break about a mile after the pass to enjoy hard boiled eggs and potatoes. Leftovers are delicious but boy are they heavy!

We crossed a few steams wondering out loud what they would have looked like in early June.

We made a wrong turn and walked an exta 1.2 miles to Fourth Recess Lake. The sign at the junction was confusing and we both questioned our decision when the trail started to climb. 

Since we were off the PCT our trail maps and apps were useless but we had taken a picture of Big Red’s Topo map. We were trying figure out where we were in relation to creek crossings when a group of 4 guys came around the bend. They confirmed we were on the wrong trail but encouraged us to go to the lake since we were so close.

It was beautiful! So beautiful in fact that Laurie decided she had to go for a swim. The water was surprisingly tolerable. Another great reason to visit the Sierras in September, the lakes are not frozen and actually swim-able.

We retraced our steps and continued down on the correct trail. We walked through many piles of horse poop, sand and rocks. We walked past quivering aspen trees and in and out of tree cover and meadows. It was pretty and hot.

Just before 3 pm we intersected the PCT. We smiled. We had made it back to our familiar 18 inch wide string of dirt we now call home.

We hiked south for 1.3 miles to the junction where 2.5 months earlier we had veered left toward Lake Edison and the ferry to VVR. 

We touched the sign and spun around. From this very point we had 406.3 miles to go to complete our thru hike!

We started our climb up toward Silver Pass. Originally we had hoped to make it another 11 miles to Virginia Lakes but given that it was already 4:30, we made a new plan.

We easily crossed each stream, trying to figure out which ones were the “waterfalls” that people described in early June. Some of the creeks were now stagnant pools in a river bed. It is amazing how much can change in a few months. 

We stopped to talk with a guy named Al. We met him originally on our way down to the VVR junction when he asked about camping and water options up the trail. We consulted Guthook and Halfmile and gave him info.

Now at 6 pm we passed him again as we all climbed up toward Silver Pass. He was fascinated by the apps and impressed with our goal of getting to Silver Pass Lake. We had a little less than 2 hours of daylight and 3.8 miles to go. We don’t believe we’re much faster until other backpackers tell us we’re crazy 🙂 

We picked up our speed as we climbed up the granite steps toward the pass.

We got to Silver Lake at 7:35. The evening glow was just fading from the hills to the east. We went to the lake to get water and wash the dirty sand from our feet and legs. Despite wearing long pants, gaiters and socks our feet (and Andy’s legs) get filthy!

We searched for a flat spot amongst the few trees at the outlet of the lake. We had asked a southbound JMT hiker if they had seen people camping at this lake and they said no. Surprisingly everywhere we looked we saw tents.

We saw a nice flat spot protected from the wind but someone had chosen to store their bear can there. Laurie was tempted to move it but Andy didn’t want to touch other people’s things. 

So we settled for a spot with a small root in the midle and set up the tent just as the final light left the sky. Andy cooked as Laurie inflated the pads by the light of our headlamps. 

We can tell the days are getting shorter. In the last week, even in northern Washington, we had relied on the light of our headlamps more than the rest of our entire hike.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of dehydrated leftover pasta and then lay in our sleeping bags staring up at the Milky Way.

Tonight we are grateful for easy creek crossings and opportunities to gaze at the Milky Way.

August 29, 2016

Mosquito Flat Trailhead to Ruby Lake

Miles: approx 3 (plus 6 hour drive from LA to Mammoth)

We woke up at 5 am. Laurie couldn’t move. We haven’t had sufficient sleep for 2 nights in a row.

We were on the road by 6:30. The ride up to Mammoth was easy, we slept (well Laurie slept, Andy tried but couldn’t get comfortable), uploaded more blog posts and looked out the window. It was nice riding in the Super Shuttle with more room than an average car.

We got to Mammoth at 11:30 and picked up our resupply boxes from Motel 6. They have been sitting there since early June. We also got a literary care package from Laurie’s cousin. Thank you Sophie and Suzanne!

We found a park and set up our usual feast. In Stehekin we emailed Andy’s parents a list of the food we were craving and Shushan and Greg did a wonderful job preparing it all.

Big Red, someone we met on the trail near Mojave, lives in Mammoth and joined us. We told him our plan to get back to VVR and he provided suggestions that were more direct.

We gratefully appreciated all of the info and suddenly we had saved ourselves a day and would get to explore a new area.

At 4 pm we were dropped off at the Mosquito Flat Trailhead. We said our goodbyes and shouldered our heavy packs. Leftovers + bear cans + 5 days of food makes for heavier than usual packs. But we were only walking 3 miles.

We slowly made our way up to Ruby Lake. We were happy to be back in the Sierras. The granite walls and yellow and green valleys felt so familiar. We were home.

We were not so fond of the “Sierra steps” however. With heavy packs each large step up took a great deal of effort. We felt like we hadn’t hiked in months. We felt stuffed, slow and sleepy.

We got to the lake around 5:30 and set up the tent. Andy immediately fell asleep without even inflating his pad. 

After two hours he woke up and we enjoyed leftovers for dinner (bell peppers stuffed with quinoa, tofu, spinach and feta cheese) and gluten free oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert (thanks Tommy and Ali!! – we saved some of the goodies you sent us for this leg 😉

Tonight we feel grateful for time with family and for sleeping under the stars.

August 27 & 28, 2016

Bellingham to Seattle to Glendale, Ca

Miles: 0 

We woke up around 7:30. We both felt confined in the bleached sheets and overly tucked in blankets. These days we sleep best on our air pads in our tent. 

Within 30 minutes of waking our stomachs started to growl. We walked to the shopping center across the street and were lured into a restaurant by their hearty servings and gluten free toast.

And you will never believe what is in that same shopping mall….. Another REI. We took a picture just for the fun of it but never went inside (they weren’t open yet and we couldn’t think of anything that we needed.)

After a filling breakfast we wandered around the grocery store trying to decide what we wanted for lunch. 

It was overwhelming. 

There were so many choices. The only thing we knew we didn’t want were more nuts. We left with 2 local peaches and the intention to return later to buy lunch and breakfast for the next day.

Check out time was noon so we lounged around, tried watching a movie and sorted through our belongings. We had to discard lighters and gather everything that needed to be checked. 

Unfortunately trekking poles can’t be carried on so we put all of our sharp objects and liquids in Andy’s pack to be checked in.

At noon we walked to the grocery store with the intention of buying a rotisserie chicken. On the way we walked by Pho 99 – a Vietnamese restaurant – and were lured inside with thoughts of large bowls of vermicelli noodles and Pho.

When ordering the waitress asked if we wanted a small or large bowl of Pho.

“Extra large please” Andy replied with a smile. “We need to stay hydrated.”

The food was delicious and we happily ate everything.

We then went over to the supermarket to get breakfast for the following morning. We ended up with granola, a bag of chips, yogurt and a bag of gluten free ginger snaps. 

Very healthy huh? 

You would never know that Andy is a nutritionist.

As we were paying Laurie noticed a buy one get one free sale on Talenti ice cream. “Should we?”

“Nah, we don’t have a way to keep it cold. And we don’t have a rewards card so we won’t get the deal.”

“We have reward cards for visitors” replied the cashier. “If you want the ice cream I will wait for you.”

“We don’t want to hold up the line, we will think about it” responded Andy.

It didn’t take more than a minute to decide that we wanted ice cream. Roman Raspberry and Tahitian Vanilla Bean are our current favorites.

We finally left the grocery store and walked 2.5 miles to the greyhound station. It was a nice walk near Western Washington University and down through the cute downtown of Fairhaven.

We ate ice cream on the benches of the Greyhound station waiting for our bus and wondering how they stay in business. The station desk was closed and we had no way of getting our tickets from will call.

“This happens all the time. Who knows if they will come back today. They’ve been in and out all day. Just tell the bus driver and show him your confirmation email and you should be good to go” said Dave, the very helpful Amtrak employee.

Even our bus driver was upset when he pulled in and saw no one there. He clearly needed something and was unable to get it.

Now we know better. Amtrak has buses too and we’ll look to them first when we need a lift.

The ride to Seattle was uneventful. Most of the time our heads were buried in our phones trying to upload the previous 10 days worth of blog posts. 

When Andy took off his shoes we both remembered that we did need something from REI – socks! We have new shoes waiting for us in LA but most of Andy’s socks have holes. 

Man! We could have bought new socks this morning. Oh well!

Andy’s college friend James picked us up from the Greyhound station and we went to have clam chowder for dinner. 

As we walked around the Pike Street Market James asked if we needed anything.  Laurie joked that we needed to go to REI. Turns out we were only 5 minutes away. 

Two REI’s in two different cities in one day – this is getting a little crazy!

The REI in Seattle is the flagship store and a little overwhelming. And the Labor Day sale was on, making it doubly overwhelming. 

We stayed laser focused, got what we needed and got out.

James was gracious to let us crash at his place for the night. We chatted for about an hour and went to bed around 10. 

We had a super early morning and wanted to make sure we got enough sleep so we don’t get sick on this last leg.

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Sunday morning came too early. Our alarms went off at 3:45. James very graciously took us to the airport. We were amazed at how many people were there at 4:45 on a Sunday morning. Then again it is the end of summer. And apparently we aren’t the only ones chasing deals. 

We slept on the flight and the rest of the day was a blur. We ate, consolidated all the extra gear we have at Andy’s parents house, sorted food, picked up our bear cans, visited more family and again worked on editing and uploading the blog posts.

We even managed to dehydrate leftover gluten free pasta and food from Andy’s aunt and uncle’s restaurant Mini Kabob. We both love their food and have been fantasizing about whether it would be possible to dehydrate their chicken kabob, rice and grilled tomatoes. Why not?

Our time in LA always seems to go by so quickly. It wasn’t until 11 pm that we finally went to sleep.

We’re full and tomorrow morning will be another early one, but it’s all worth it because we will get back to the trail before our bodies think we’re done hiking and start hurting.

Tonight we are grateful for good friends and delicious home cooked food.

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