Author Archives: Jake

13 Miles

Our hostel roommates brought friends to our room last night to simply show them what a hostel room looks like inside. At about midnight they showed up for this tour when we had already been in bed with lights out. Then, they can back again at 4am to gather some things and leave. I think we’re done with hostels. We got up around 7 and went to breakfast again at Driftwood Cafe. We showered one last time and then packed up and headed to Flatstick Pub to meet Marie’s friend, Ashley, from Seattle who was now working there. She had offered to take us back to the trailhead and we just needed to wait for her to be done working. Ashley kindly dropped us off at Echo Lake where there is a general store and marina. We got snacks and then headed out. The sign at the trailhead said that Desolation Wilderness is the most used (per acre) wilderness area in the country. I believe it, because it took us about 45 minutes to walk a mile due to having to stop so many times to pass people. There are also lots of comments about bears in the area. Normally, I’d expect that near the lake-front campsites where weekenders like to setup. Bears learn that humans have food and return when they’re hungry, so they know where these campsites are located. Most of the sites are not “legal”, since they’re not 100 feet away from the water. We skipped those and tried to find better options, but ended up hiking an extra mile and a half before we found a site in the woods, well away from the lakes we had passed. We set up, started making dinner, and then I heard some noises from the rock pile behind us, just past the trail. I looked out the tent and sure enough, there was a bear about 20 yards away. I threw my shoes on and got out of the tent, Marie did the same. I grabbed some sticks and started shouting at the bear. He didn’t seem to care too much until I started moving toward it and throwing sticks. Marie joined me and we switched to throwing rocks. For about 10 minutes we kept yelling, throwing stuff, and slowly walking towards it before it finally left the area. I fully expected it to return, but he never did (as far as I know). I suspect he went down to the lake campsites for an easier meal option. We finished our dinners and then got ready for bed (with piles of rocks beside the tent, just in case).

0 Miles

Out of the room around 7 to get breakfast. We have two other people in our room at the hostel so we tried to slip out without waking them. Got food at Driftwood Cafe, searched for new sun hoodies with no luck, got new shoes for Marie. Went back to the room to repack the bounce box and then rode the bus to the post office to send it ahead. Went to Flatstick Pub for drinks and lunch, followed by catching a movie at the theater, something we never do normally, to spend some time out of the room in air conditioning. We got dinner from a tiny Mexican place to Jimenez Taqueria, around the corner from the hostel. We ate in the front patio area of the hostel where they have a bunch of picnic tables setup. More town chores of cleaning out dishes and backflushing water filters.

6 Miles

Mainly downhill and only a few miles to the highway, we made quick work to get to the Echo Summit trailhead. Tortoise and Vaper were with us and Vaper had already contacted a trail angel for a ride into town. We hung out in the shade while we waited for our ride to arrive. She was actually one of the volunteers at the information center we passed through yesterday, so a familiar face of sorts. She drove us to town, showed us all of the amenities, and then dropped us off. We headed to The Brewery for beers and food before we made our way to the post office for our bounce box. Grabbed our resupply at Safeway and took the bus to the hostel. Checked in at the Mellow Mountain Hostel, showered, and then went to dinner. Stuffed with pizza, Dr. Pepper, and salad at Blue Dog. Back to the room to restock and reset from the bounce box. Feels nice to have a shave and cut my hair.

17 Miles

Sleep treated me well last night. The first few miles were smooth and uphill. On the descent, we ran into Slingblade. He’s hiking sobo from Crater Lake to Mammoth, where he lives. During our morning break, we had cell service and I got a text from Shade. They’re going to be in Tahoe until Saturday, which works out well since we’ll be in town tomorrow (Friday). We haven’t seen them since Mammoth, always a day behind, so it will be nice to finally (briefly) catch them. At lunch we stopped at Frog Lake. We took a dip and rinsed out some clothes in hopes we wouldn’t smell quite as bad for hitching a ride into Tahoe tomorrow. Ate lunch while our clothes dried. Earlier, Slingblade had told us to be sure to stop at the Echo Lake Trailhead and visit the information booth. He said they were giving out snacks and sodas to PCT hikers. We both got excited about the prospect of soda on this hot day. We walked the half-mile or so to the trailhead and found out that we were too late for sodas, booooo. They did have fresh fruit though! Woo! Thank you, volunteers at the trailhead! With another 2 miles to the next water source, we moved quickly to it. We should not have banked on those sodas. I don’t know why I’m using ‘soda’ instead of ‘pop’ like I typically do. On our way through a meadow, we started leapfrogging a group of TRTers. We would continue doing that until we reached camp. They had a dog with them who was clearly into the hiking. Reminded me of the infectious enthusiasm of my friend Matt’s dog, Otto. He’s always amped up when we go hiking. The campsite had a killer view. The Guthook comment that intrigued us to check it out said that it was a “baller ass campsite”. They were spot on.

18 Miles

An animal must have smelled the rag I used to clean up my spilled dinner and came near the tent last night. I woke up to the sound of something rustling the bushes nearby. By the time I got my headlamp on and got out of the tent, it was gone. I didn’t see what it was, but I suspect a bear. I’ll have to clean the rag with some Bronner’s to get the food smell out of it; my rinse in the river was definitely not good enough. We’re also looking forward to replacement food bags because ours have lost their seals and are not odor-proof anymore. We have new ones in our bounce box, but that’s in Tahoe, so we have to wait a couple more nights. Pulled out of camp at about 8. Leapfrogged with a guy using real sticks for walking sticks. Also passed by a guy that works with the PCTA. He was with two forest service guys, and they were out clearing down trees on the trail. Many thanks to them. Right before we were going to stop for lunch, Marie spotted smoke two canyons over. We were on a ridge and getting near South Lake Tahoe, so we actually had cell reception. I called one of the ranger district phones and let them know what we saw. Hopefully, they can put it out quickly; it’s fairly windy today. Overall, the hiking was casual, no major climbs or descents, but plenty of elevation change to keep it interesting. We got a campsite that’s next to some tall boulders so we have a decent amount of wind protection.

18 Miles

Late start at 9. Easy miles to lunch where we hung out with Gamechanger and Tortoise. Climbed up and over a ridge where we saw Rogue and Coach. We had cell service on the ridge so we stopped for a bit to book a place to stay in Tahoe in 3 days. Shortly after we started hiking again, we passed by Rogue and Coach who were going to camp at the large pond next to the trail. Another 5 miles to camp for us. We got a spot near a lake tucked into the trees. I managed to spill my dinner as it was soaking, which caused a panicked clean-up. Tomorrow looks to be a casual day of hiking, but still 18 miles.

14 Miles

Up around 6, we headed to the shaded area where there were electric outlets for us to charge things. We plugged in our phones and then went to the restaurant again to eat breakfast. Coach, Juevos, and Gamechanger were already there. We sat and ordered. Mr. Brightside showed up a couple minutes later and sat with us. The service was much better this time and the food was filling. After eating, we bought our resupply, which was surprisingly good. Their selection was definitely influenced by hikers. Took our resupply over to the picnic tables near our tent to repackage and pack into our food bags. The alleged car-dwelling man sat at another table and tried to talk to us, but was speaking gibberish. We took more showers, mailed back our bear canisters, and tore down the tent. The shuttle was due soon, but we needed to individually request tickets in order to ride it. The wifi password was manually added to my phone by the attandent. I assume to keep it secret from non-PCT hikers. Ron showed up with the shuttle van and 10 hikers piled in. He took us back up to Sonora Pass where we then got back on trail. It was still only 10:30 so we had almost a whole day of hiking available. We rolled through the miles. Chatted with Tortoise a bit on the descent and then passed him later on. Our campsite had a good hangout spot with no mosquitos and a boulder to use as a backrest, so we made dinner and enjoyed being outside the tent. As the sun set it got colder and we had to get into our quilts for the night.

12 Miles

The sun hit our tent around 6. The goal for the day was hiking the 12 miles to Sonora Pass/Highway 108 to catch the 3pm shuttle to Kennedy Meadows (North). The climb today included the longest water carry we’ve had since the desert, 10 miles. Not crazy, but I’ve enjoyed only carrying around a liter or so at a time. So, the first stop on the way up was a stream to collect water. On the way, the mosquitos swarmed. We put on rain jackets, headnets, and picaridin lotion, and then hiked on. The trail goes above treeline on these rock pile mountains and then just cruises around up there. Lots of great, new views all around. Eventually we descended to Sonora Pass where we met Coach, Uncle Possum, Retro, and Cheryl. The latter two were there doing trail magic. They had a pot of chili, ambrosia salad, beer, pop, snacks, and American flag bandanas for any thru-hiker. Happy 4th of July! We hung out with them for awhile until they were ready to leave. We helped them pack up, and then piled into their campervan. They dropped us off at the resort and then gave all the leftover snacks and drinks to the hiker box. Very fun to chat with and super generous. The resort is packed, so we camped in the designated “PCT Hikers” area. We setup the tent, changed into rain clothes, and then went over to take showers and start laundry. All machines in use, we had to wait. We grabbed beers and chips and sat down with the other hikers. We met Bearslayer, Juevos, Mr. Bright side, and Rogue. Also, FedEx was there, who we haven’t seen in a long time. He had to take 3 weeks off because of leg issues. We did get clothes in a washer around the time of our reservation at the restaurant. Coach and Juevos also had a table at 6, but neither of our tables were ready. So, we got drinks at the saloon. Eventually we got to sit and order. Overall, it took 2.5 hours and we never got the dessert that was supposed to be included. The staff was crazy busy, so it’s okay, but I didn’t expect to spend most of my evening waiting for our server. The prime rib was great though. When we walked out we saw it was getting dark so we got into the tent. We were the only people in a tent; most hikers were in the dorms, cabins, or teepees. A man that appears to be living out of his car sort of shared the PCT area with us. He started his car around 3 in the morning, I assume to warm it back up.

17 Miles

Knowing we had to ford the shallow river near us, we skipped putting socks on so it was one less thing to mess with while getting ready to get in the water. It worked out well. We crossed barefoot, and then put dry socks on wet feet in dry shoes. They dried off soon enough, but the main focus of the morning was dealing with mosquitoes. Almost the entire 9 miles to Dorothy Lake we dealt with swarms of them. Our lunch plan was to pitch the tent near the lake so we had somewhere to hang out while we took our break. There was a nice spot near the water that worked perfectly. We both rinsed out some clothes before getting in for a refreshing dip. As our clothes were drying, we hung out in the tent and ate lunch. The afternoon miles had us moving pretty quick. It looked like a storm was coming and we still had to get over the pass (and exit Yosemite). We made it over and started down. 8 miles to a little open area near a bend in the trail. We had a great view of the distant valleys and could watch the storm move through. Now, we sit here and listen to rain hit the tent and thunder claps echoing all around.

18 Miles (Seavey Pass)

A rough day of hiking, but we got through it. Our tent neighbor claims a bear was near his tent in the morning, but I didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was, but ran off without any noise. I remain skeptical. However, we did see a bear later that morning! Headed up to Seavey Pass, we walked by a fresh pile of bear poop and not 2 minutes later a small black bear near the trail ran off into the trees. I’ve been waiting to see one in the wild for a very long time. I’ve never seen one in Colorado, and this is the first one on the PCT for us. The trail was steep and rough today, both up and down. We smelled campfire at one point on the way down Stubblefield Canyon, but could never figure out where it was coming from. The sky in the next valley was hazy, but wind could be carrying smoke from pretty far away. I’ll have to remember to check fire closures when I get service. The mosquitos around our campsite near Wilma Lake are swarming. We’ve had to put headnets on to keep them out of our faces. Endgame camped near us again tonight, but he crossed the river.

16 Miles (Benson Pass)

Sky looked good in the morning so we pressed on. The ground had a thick dew and fog rolled through. We didn’t make up all of the miles, but had a solid day getting up and over Benson Pass. Before the top of the pass we met some section hikers who had too much food and wanted to know if we were PCTers and if we wanted some of their food. Yes, and yes! That free bag of snacks made our food stretch much easier. Not wanting to get caught in a storm at the top of the pass, we skipped lunch and climbed. We safely made it over and got to Smedberg Lake in plenty of time to get the tent set up before the storm hit. The campsite by the lake was still not a legal one, but we did have great views! Endgame and two other hikers were there too, so if we got caught then we’d all be in trouble.

5 Miles

Needing to dry our stuff before we could keep going, we hung everything out on some rocks and let the sun work its magic. It took a few hours so we didn’t get hiking until around noon. We got about 5 miles before it started raining again. We strolled through a meadow that had a giant boulder with an overhang. A couple of hikers were underneath it yelling into it so that the echo would go across the valley. It was kinda neat to hear. The rain picked up as we reached the end of the meadow so we pitched the tent as soon as we found a spot we could use. No need to repeat yesterday’s mistake. We thought the storm would pass, but it didn’t. So, we just made that camp for the night. We had just gotten everything dry that morning and wanted to keep it that way. It was also the second night in a row of using a site that would be trouble if a park ranger found us. Not hitting our mileage for the day meant stretching our food one more day so that we could make up the difference. We decided to make a judgment in the morning to see if the sky looked bad. If it did, we would turn back. Otherwise, we would need to keep pushing forward despite any more storms.

12 Miles

We broke camp with some still wet clothes, but not so wet to need immediate attention. It was a casual 7 miles to Tuolumne Meadows. So many tourists at the bridge about a mile from the trailhead. Can’t forget we’re in Yosemite during prime tourism season. Just weird to have massive areas of the park basically to ourselves and then become surrounded by lots of people that smell nicely. The general store was filled with hikers, but some day trippers as well. Trashman, Treetrunk, and Buckees (named after the shirt he wears that is from the well-advertised pit stop in Texas). were already there hanging out. Trashman was coming back from his solo trip down to the valley, which Shade and Studio 54 had skipped. He was about a day behind them now, but intended to do some catch-up as soon as he could actually leave the comforts of the store. The grill opened just as we arrived, perfect timing. We ordered food, chowed down, then decided to get ice cream too. Followed that with snacks and beers from the store. Some hikers started back out while the building clouds moved in. I hope they made it somewhere nice to ride out the storm. As soon as rain started hitting the pavement, everyone scattered to either their cars, tents, or huddled under the awning of the store. We huddled and waited for the storm to pass. It was taking awhile, so I grabbed more beers and snacks from inside, an excellent choice. Eventually, we decided the rain wasn’t going anywhere and we should start walking. We had to make it at least 4 miles away from Tuolumne before we could “legally” camp. We were better prepared for the rain this time; we were going to wear not only rain jackets, but also rain pants and rain mitts. We hiked for about two hours like that before stopping. The first tent site was a thin layer of dirt on a rock, so we couldn’t get a stake in. Learning this took time, which soaked the outer part of the tent and tyvek groundsheet. We continued on a little further scoping out spots along the way. Found one, started setting up, and the rain stopped. Of course. Got in the tent, started unpacking, and learned just how (not) water resistant the material is that our bags are made. Everything was soaked. Hiking clothes, sleep clothes, quilt, pad, extra socks, etc. We have pack liners, but didn’t think we needed them. Rookie mistake. Should have taken the time after the first two storms to get them out, but we didn’t. Now we were going to have to hope for some sun in the morning to dry everything out. Sleeping in wet clothes is crappy.

16 Miles (Island Pass, Donohue Pass)

We started the day making our way up to 1000 Island Lake, which Marie is determined to make a joke about. We then climbed up a little more to Island Pass. There was a short drop down and then more climbing to Donohue Pass. We were racing the storm coming up the valley behind us. We got over and dropped down to just past the first lake when the skies opened up. We had rain jackets on, but needed to take shelter under some trees while it hailed on us. The storm broke up after about an hour and we continued on. Everyone we passed after the storm made some mention of it, seems everyone had a rough go of it. The trail became a shallow stream in many parts. We caught up to Buckees right before we stopped for the day. We hadn’t seen him since Muir Pass. In camp, we had some wet clothes, but enough dry to wear for the night.

5 Miles

Packed up and checked out of the hotel at 10. Brunch at Good Life Cafe again. Caught the trolley to Mammoth Village, then took the bike shuttle up to the bike park, got a hitch to the Minaret trailhead, and finally another hitch to the Agnew Meadows trailhead where we could pick up the PCT. We climbed up about 400 ft. and then the trail leveled off for the next few miles until we got to our campsite. We passed by two older hikers on our way. When we started setting up the tent, they both caught up and then camped nearby. One of the guys even came over with a bag of Starburst to share. Woo! We did a true nearo today, only hiking 5 miles. We have plenty of time to make it to Tuolumne Meadow in two days.

0 Miles

Got brunch, did laundry, got lunch from Bell’s Kitchen food truck. Ordered take-out from the Mexican place near our hotel. Fell asleep early without trouble. A very relaxed zero day.

0 Miles

Ran into Trashman and Studio 54 at the bakery. They were planning to head back to Red’s Meadow because the rate on their hotel room was higher for the weekend. Saw Treetrunk at the Post Office. Got our resupply handled. A quick visit to the outfitter for a few replacement items. Took advantage of happy hour to work on a crossword. Pizza and salads for dinner.

8 (+6) Miles (Duck Pass)

Woke up to a cold morning near the river. The hiking was fine, just some easy ups and downs before hitting our trail junction. Passed a couple lakes along the way that looked like they had quite a few JMT hikers camped nearby. Pricepoint and Honeybear leapfrogged with us a little before we said our brief goodbyes at the junction. They were continuing on to Red’s Meadow while we were heading over Duck Pass to head out to Mammoth Lakes. The hike over the pass and down to the campground was scenic and smooth, but full of day hikers. I was ready to be done with hiking for the day so I flew by them all until I got down to the trailhead. Marie mentioned that her friend Rob (Glitter, ’14) was on a road trip and might still be near Mammoth. We caught the free trolley that runs all over the resort and made our way into town. First stop was the post office to get our bounce box and care package (thank you, Jim & Missy!!). As soon as I walked out of the post office, Rob was already there. What luck! He and Levi were very close to Mammoth and picked us up to go grab a beer and catch up. It was great to meet the both of them and talk about life on the trail. I hope we can meet up with them again when we get to Washington. We parted ways and then had to figure out where we were going to stay. We made a reservation, walked over to the hotel, but couldn’t check in yet because the reservation hadn’t made its way through the tubes. We eventually got a room key and dropped off our packs and boxes. Food was next, so we got pasta dinners to-go from the Italian place across the road. Settled into the room and stuffed with food, sleep came easy.

17 Miles (Silver Pass)

The hiking today was a bit of a slog. 1,000 ft. up followed by 2,000 down, then 3,500 up, and finally 1,500 down. The view from Silver Pass was amazing though. I ran into Shade, Studio 54, and Candy Corn on the way up. A guy named One Love stopped and chatted for a bit. He started 2 weeks later than us, which makes me think he is cruising through the trail. Our campsite is a little windy and there’s a big, dead tree right next to us, but we’re gonna roll the dice. Pricepoint, Honeybear, and another hiker we hadn’t met before passed by as we were turning in. They had stopped at VVR and were going to skip Mammoth, while we skipped VVR and are headed to Mammoth. Tomorrow we should have some easier miles and then a bus into Mammoth for a double zero. Very excited for a shower. Tomorrow makes our 8th day of hiking since Bishop, which I think is our longest stretch yet.

19 Miles (Selden Pass)

Our spot next to the river was cold. The JMT hikers and Pepe were already gone before we got out of the tent. We hiked on down to a creek and stopped to get water. Similar to yesterday, Trashman caught up to us and we chatted for a bit before we started climbing. Today’s hike was Selden Pass, which ended up being fairly smooth for a 3000+ ft. day. We hung out with Shade, Studio 54, and Trashman for a bit at various points along the way. After the pass, we stopped at Marie Lake so we could take a swim at Marie’s named lake. It was very, very cold water at 10,500 ft. We hiked the remaining miles of the day descending to our campsite, which was beside a river again but this time with tons of mosquitos. We’re getting pretty quick with setting up the tent so we can escape the swarms. Today is Kenzie, my niece’s, birthday, but I couldn’t get reception at any point to call her. I’m hoping I can get a video call with her when we’re in Mammoth in three days.